About Salam

* The meaning of blessings and salaams upon the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him)
:
What is the meaning of blessings and salaams upon the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?.
Praise be to Allaah.
"Blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him)" – according to the majority of scholars, what is meant is mercy
from Allaah, prayers for forgiveness offered by the angels, and du'aa'
offered by humans. Others – including Abu'l-Aaliyah among the earlier
scholars and Ibn al-Qayyim among the later scholars, and Ibn
'Uthaymeen among the contemporary scholars – are of the view that the
meaning of blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) is praise for him among the "higher group" (al-mala'
al-'a'la, i.e., the angels, cf. al-Saffaat 37:8), and the prayers of
the angels and the Muslims for blessings upon him (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) are for him to be praised by Allaah among the
"higher group" (the angels). Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on
him) wrote a book on this topic entitledJala' al-Afhaam fi Fadl
al-Salaati wa'l-Salaam 'ala Khayr il-Anaam, in which he discussed at
length the meaning of blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him), the rulings thereon, and its benefits.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The phrase "Bless Muhammad (salli 'ala Muhammad)" – it was said that
blessing from Allaah means mercy, blessings from the angels means
prayer for forgiveness, and blessing from humans means du'aa'.
If it is said: "The angels sent blessings upon him," it means that
they prayed for forgiveness for him.
If it is said, "The khateeb sent blessings upon him," it means that he
prayed for blessing for him.
If it is said, "Allaah sent blessings upon him," it means that He
bestowed mercy upon him.
This is well known among the scholars, but the correct view is
something different, because blessing (salaah) is more specific than
mercy. Hence the Muslims are unanimously agreed that it is permissible
to pray for mercy for every believer, but they differed as to whether
we may pray for blessings (using this specific word ofsalaahorsalli
'ala…) for anyone other than the Prophets. If the wordsalaahhere is
taken to mean mercy, then there is no difference between them, and
just as we pray for mercy for a person we may send blessings upon
them.
Moreover, Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"They are those on whom are the Salawaat (i.e. who are blessed and
will be forgiven) from their Lord, and (they are those who) receive
His Mercy, and it is they who are the guided ones"
[al-Baqarah 2:157].
The wordrahmah(mercy) is mentioned in conjunction with the
wordsalawaat(blessings), which indicates that they are two different
things, so the meaning of the verse is clear. The scholars (may Allaah
have mercy on them) used the wordsalaah(blessings) in some places and
the wordrahmah(mercy) in others, sosalaahis the not the same as mercy.
The best that cane be said concerning this is what Abu'l-'Aaliyah (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said: The salaah (blessing) of Allaah upon
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is His
praising him among the "higher group" (the angels).
So what is meant byAllaahumma salli 'alayhi(O Allaah send blessings
upon him) is: O Allaah, praise him among the higher group, i.e., among
the angels who are close to Allaah.
If someone were to say that this is unlikely from a linguistic point
of view, becausesalaahin Arabic means supplication, not praise, the
answer to that is that the wordsalaahis also connected to the
wordsilah(gift), and there can be no doubt that praise for the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) among
the higher group (angels) is one of the greatest gifts, for praise may
sometimes be more important to a person than all else. So a good
mention is a great gift.
Based on this, the correct view is that sending blessings (salaah)
upon him means praise for him along the higher group (the angels). End
quote.
Al-Sharh al-Mumti', 3/163, 164
With regard to the meaning of sending salaams upon him (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), this means praying for the soundness
(salaamah) of his body during his lifetime, and the soundness of his
religious commitment (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), the
soundness of his body in the grave, and his safety and well being on
the Day of Resurrection.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The phraseal-salaamu 'alayka. It was said that the meaning of
al-Salaam is one of the names of Allaah, because the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allaah is al-Salaam (the
One Free from all defects)" and Allaah says in His Book
(interpretation of the meaning):"the King, the Holy, the One Free from
all defects" [al-Hashr 59:23]. So according to this view, the meaning
is: May Allaah protect, keep safe and take care of His Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). It is as if we are
saying: Allaah is watching over you, protecting you, helping you, etc.
And it was said that salaam is a noun that comes from the root sallama
(to greet), and means a greeting, as Allaah says (interpretation of
the meaning):"O you who believe! send your Salaah on (ask Allaah to
bless) him (Muhammad), and (you should) greet (salute) him with the
Islamic way of greeting (salutation, i.e. As‑Salaamu 'Alaykum)"
[al-Ahzaab 33:56]. The meaning of greeting the Messenger (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) is to pray for him and ask that he be
kept safe from all harm.
It may be said: This du'aa' is something obvious during his lifetime,
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), but after his death, how
can we pray that he be kept safe and sound when he (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) has died?
The answer is that prayer for safety and well-being are not limited to
the time when someone is alive. There are the terrors of the Day of
Resurrection yet to come. Hence the prayer of the Messengers when the
people cross al-siraat (a bridge over Hell) will be: "Allaahumma,
sallim, sallim(O Allaah, grant safety, grant safety)." A man does not
cease to face danger and harm just because he has died.
So we pray for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him), that he will be kept safe from the terrors of the standing (on
the Day of Resurrection).
We also say that there may be a more general meaning, i.e., that
safety and protection for him also includes protection for his
sharee'ah and Sunnah, that they may be kept safe from the hands of
those who would tamper with them, as the scholars said concerning the
verse (interpretation of the meaning):"refer it to Allaah and His
Messenger" [al-Nisa' 4:59]– they said: Refer to him during his
lifetime, and to his Sunnah after his death.
Is the phrase "al-salaamu 'alayka" a statement or a du'aa'? i.e., are
you saying that the Messenger is protected, or are you praying that
Allaah will protect him?
The answer is that it is a du'aa', asking that Allaah will protect
him. So it is a statement that serves as a du'aa'.
Is addressing the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) like one person addressing another?
The answer is no. If that were the case, then the prayer would be
invalidated thereby, because no ordinary human speech is acceptable
during this prayer. If that were the case, the Sahaabah would have
said it out loud so that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) would hear them, and he would have returned the greeting, as
happened when they met him. But, as Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah]
said in his bookIqtida' al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem: Because you think so
much about the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
when you send salaams upon him, it is as if he is in front of you and
you are addressing him.
Hence the Sahaabah used to say "Al-salaamu 'alayka" although he could
not hear them, and they would say "Al-salaamu 'alayka" when they were
in one land and he was in another, and we say "al-salaamu 'alayka"
although we are in lands other than his, and in a time other than his.
End quote.
Al-Sharh al-Mumti', 3/149, 150
And Allaah knows best.