General Dought clear, - * Why do we send blessings upon the Prophet and his family in the prayer and not upon the rest of the ummah?

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One of the basic principles of Islam is that a human in the eyes of Allah is always equal. When we pray, at the end of our prayer, after the Tashahhud, we always ask Allah to bestow peace and blessings on the Prophet, and his family. We do not say peace upon the rest of the ummah or the sahabah etc. With regard to this, please can you explain to me fully what is the status of the prophets family.
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Praise be to Allah
Firstly:
Submission to Allah and His Messenger is one of the fundamentals of the Islamic religion, without which it cannot be complete. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you (O Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission”
[an-Nisa’ 4:65].
Submission leaves no room for doubt and it puts an end to the whispers of the Shaytaan. By means of submission one may attain certainty and perfect faith, and when there is submission, one does not need to ask why or how.
Secondly:
People are all equal in terms of them being slaves of Allah, but after that they very in status and virtue according to their level of piety or fear of Allah, as Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honourable of you with Allâh is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa [i.e. he is one of the Muttaqoon (pious)]”
[al-Hujuraat 49:13].
The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said on the middle day of the days of at-Tashreeq: “O people, verily your Lord is one and your father is one. Verily there is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab or of a non-Arab over an Arab, or of a red man over a black man, or of a black man over a red man, except in terms of piety. Have I conveyed the message?” They said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) has conveyed the message.
Narrated by Ahmad (22978) and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inas-Saheehah(2700).
Thirdly:
Sending greetings of salaam upon the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and upon the righteous slaves of Allah in the prayer is done in the tashahhud, which is then followed by sending blessings upon the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and upon his family.
The greeting of salaam is sent upon all the righteous slaves of Allah in heaven and on earth, as al-Bukhaari (831) and Muslim (402) narrated that Ibn Mas‘ood said: When we prayed behind the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), we used to say: Peace (salaam) be upon Allah, peace be upon So and so. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to us one day: “Allah is as-Salaam, so when one of you sits to pray, let him say:at-Tahiyyaatu Lillaahi wa’s-salawaatu wa’t-tayyibaat; as-salaamu ‘alayka ayyuha’n-nabiyyu wa rahmat-Allahi wa barakaatuhu; as-salaamu ‘alayna wa ‘ala ‘ibaad-illaah is-saaliheen(All compliments, prayers and good words are due to Allah; peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings; peace be upon us and upon the righteous slaves of Allah). For if you say that it will reach every righteous slave in the heavens and on earth. (Then say:)Ash-hadu al-laa ilaaha ill-Allah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasooluhu(I bear witness that there is no god except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger).”
As for sending blessings when saying “Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad… wa baarik ‘ala Muhammad” what is prescribed is for it to be intended for the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and his family, and it is said after the Tashahhud.
This is how it is prescribed and it is prescribed to be exclusively for the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and his family. Allah instructed His Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to say it this way, and He has commanded people to follow the Prophet’s example and act in accordance with his Sunnah, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) told us when he said: “Pray as you have seen me praying.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (631).
Allah, may He be exalted, bestows His favour and generosity upon whomever He will among His slaves. He is not to be questioned about what He does and no objection is to be raised to what He prescribes on the basis of what people may think or imagine. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“He selects for His Mercy (Islam and the Qur’an with Prophethood) whom He wills and Allah is the Owner of Great Bounty”
[Aal ‘Imraan 3:74]
“That is the Grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knower”
[al-Maa’idah 5:54].
It is well-known that the family of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) enjoy special virtue and status that others do not share.
Moreover, the grace of Allah will be bestowed upon the righteous and His slaves with the sending of greetings of salaam upon them, as we see above. Obviously, it is not necessarily the case that those who are favoured receive equal favour in all things.
Our Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) taught his Companions to send blessings upon him when they said to him: O Messenger of Allah, we know how to send greetings of salaam upon you, but how should we send blessings upon you? He said: “Say:Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala aali Muhammadin kama salayta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka hameedun majeed; Allahumma baarik ‘ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala aali Muhammadin kama baarakta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka hameedun majeed(O Allah, send Yoursalaah(grace, honour and mercy) upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent Yoursalaahupon the family of Ibraaheem, You are indeed Praiseworthy, Most Glorious. O Allah, send Your blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You sent Your blessings upon the family of Ibraaheem, You are indeed Praiseworthy, Most Glorious).”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (6357) and Muslim (406).
This is how to send blessings upon him (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and not one of them said: O Messenger of Allah, why do we send blessings upon you and upon your family, and we do not send blessings upon the Prophets and Messengers of Allah, or upon any of your Companions or any of your ummah? They only said, as Allah tells us about them and about His believing slaves: We hear and we obey. This is what is required of us.
Fourthly:
What is meant by the family of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is his wives and descendants, and Banu Haashim and Banu’l-Muttalib.
And Allah knows best.

PUBLISHERM.NajimudeeN. MD,IRI

Names and Attributes of Allaah, Dought & clear, - * Is al-Munji one oft he names of Allah?

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Is an-Naaji one of the beautiful names of Allah?
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Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
In the answer to question no. 155206we explained that the names of Allah are a tawqeefi matter [i.e., they can only be known through divine Revelation and sound texts of hadeeth, with no room for ijtihad], and that they are affirmed by the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah, and there is no room for personal opinion or ijtihaad with regard to this matter.
Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
It is not permissible to ascribe any name or attribute to Allah, may He be exalted, that is not mentioned in the Qur’an or Sunnah, because that is speaking about Allah, may He be exalted, without knowledge.
End quote fromMajmoo‘ Fataawa wa Rasaa’il Ibn ‘Uthaymeen(4/230).
In the answer to question no. 155206we also stated that the names of Allah, may He be exalted, are more limited than His attributes, and that His attributes are more limited than His deeds, so the area of His attributes is broader in scope than the area of His names.
Coming, going, taking, withholding, striking and so on are all attributes with which we may describe Allah, may He be exalted, but only in the way that is mentioned in the texts, but we do not call Him by names indicative of these things. So we do not say that the Comer, the Goer, the Taker, the Withholder, and so on, are names of Allah, even though we may say that He does these things and we may describe Him as doing these actions.
Secondly:
An-Naaji is not one of the names of Allah, may He be exalted, and it is not one of his attributes. Perhaps what the questioner means is al-Munji, but this is not one of the names of Allah either, because it is not mentioned in any Islamic text. But it is permissible for us to describe Allah in such terms, so we may say that Allah, may He be exalted, will save [yunji] His believing slaves from the punishment in this world and the punishment in the hereafter that will befall the disbelievers. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Then (in the end) We save Our Messengers and those who believe! Thus it is incumbent upon Us to save the believers”
[Yoonus 10:103]
“And when Our Commandment came, We saved Hood and those who believed with him by a Mercy from Us, and We saved them from a severe torment”
[Hood 11:58]
“There is not one of you but will pass over it (Hell); this is with your Lord; a Decree which must be accomplished.
Then We shall save those who use to fear Allah and were dutiful to Him. And We shall leave the Zalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers, etc.) therein (humbled) to their knees (in Hell)”
[Maryam 19:71, 72]
“And We saved Moosa (Moses) and all those with him”
[ash-Shu‘ara’ 26:65]
“Say (O Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)): ‘Who rescues you from the darkness of the land and the sea (dangers like storms), when you call upon Him in humility and in secret (saying): If He (Allah) only saves us from this (danger), we shall truly be grateful.’
Say (O Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)): ‘Allah rescues you from it and from all (other) distresses, and yet you worship others besides Allah’”
[al-‘An‘aam 6:63-64].
And there are many other similar verses in the Qur’an. Hence we describe Allah, may He be exalted, as saving the believers from the punishment of this world and the punishment of the hereafter, and as saving His slaves from calamities, and we say that He is the one who saves the believers and who saves the one who is in distress from his distress, and so on, but none of that is by way of calling Him, may He be glorified, by such a name, or making up names implying servitude to Him using such a name, such as calling someone ‘Abd al-Munji (slave of the saviour) and so on.
And Allah knows best.

PUBLISHERM.NajimudeeN. MD,IRI

Names and Attributes of Allaah, Dought & clear, - * The Qur’an is the word of Allah, may He be exalted, and is not created

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I know that the Qur’an is one of the attributes of Allah, like His Eye, His Hand and so on, and that it is the word of Allah in a real sense, that was sent down to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) through Jibreel (peace be upon him), and that the Qur’an is not created. But what is meant by that? Does that mean that the words of Allah are not created, even when we read them, although we are created by Allah and everything we say or do is part of the creation of Allah? Is thinking in this way regarded as a kind of overstepping the mark? I do not want to do that, all I want is to ensure that my belief is sound.
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Praise be to Allah.
The Qur’an is the word of Allah, may He be exalted, and is not created
What is meant by that is that Allah, may He be exalted, spoke the words of the Qur’an, which Jibreel (peace be upon him) heard from Him, and brought down to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and conveyed it to him.
All of the attributes of Allah, may He be exalted, are uncreated; they are eternal, with no beginning. The words of Allah are among these attributes, and that includes the Qur’an. Therefore the scholars said that the Qur’an is not created, because it is the words of Allah, and that is one of His attributes.
With regard to people’s actions, they are created. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“While Allah has created you and what you do [or make]”
[as-Saaffaat 37:96].
There are two issues that we must distinguish between:
The first is the words of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, that He spoke initially, and Jibreel (peace be upon him) heard them from Him, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) conveyed them to us. This is an attribute of Allah that is not created in its letters and words; the same applies to His voice with which Allah spoke initially, and Jibreel (peace be upon him) heard it from Him.
All of this comes under the heading of the words of Allah, nothing of which is created, no matter how it is written, recited or heard.
The second is the actions of the person, who is the vessel which carries the words of Allah, so he writes them in a book, reads them and hears them. All that comes from a person and that he does is created.
So the hand of the person is created, the ink with which he writes is created, the paper on which he writes is created, the person’s tongue is created, his voice that belongs to him is created. All of these are vessels in which people carry the word of Allah and transmit it and convey it.
More than one of the leading scholars have explained this issue and differentiated between these two matters. Foremost among them is the leader of hadith scholars, Imam Muhammad ibn Ismaa‘eel al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on him). He wrote a book on this specific topic entitledKhalq Af‘aal al-‘Ibaad. Among other things he said in it (2/70):
Abu ‘Abdullah ibn Ismaa‘eel said: I heard ‘Ubaydullah ibn Sa‘eed say: I heard Yahya ibn Sa‘eed say: I always heard our companions say that people’s deeds are created.
Abu ‘Abdullah said: Their movements, voices, actions and writing are created. As for the Qur’an that is recited, recorded in the Mus-haf, written, and memorised in people’s hearts, it is the word of Allah and is not created. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“HK Nay, but they, the clear Ayat (i.e the description and the qualities of Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) written like verses in the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)) are preserved in the breasts of those who have been given knowledge (from the people of the Scriptures)
MP But it is clear revelations in the hearts of those who have been given knowledge”
[al-‘Ankaboot 29:49].
Ishaaq ibn Ibraaheem said: As for the vessels, who would doubt that they are created?
End quote.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
When we recite the Qur’an, we recite it with our voices that are created, that cannot resemble the voice of the Lord. The Qur’an that we recite is the word of Allah, conveyed from Him and not heard directly from Him. Rather we recite it with our voices. The words are the words of the Creator, but the voice is the sound of the reciter, as is indicated by the Qur’an and Sunnah, as well as common sense. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And if anyone of the Mushrikoon (polytheists, idolaters, pagans, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah) seeks your protection then grant him protection, so that he may hear the Word of Allah (the Qur’an), and then escort him to where he can be secure”
[at-Tawbah 9:6].
And the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Make the Qur’an beautiful with your voices.”
End quote fromMajmoo‘ al-Fataawa(12/98). See also:Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa(12/53)
The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas said:
What we are required to believe concerning the Qur’an, which is the view of Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa‘ah, as indicated by the Qur’an and Sunnah, is that the Qur’an is the word of Allah in a true sense. Its letters and meanings were sent down, not created. It came from Him and will return to Him. It is the word of Allah, may He be exalted, when it is recited and when it is written. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“(It is) in Records held (greatly) in honour (Al-Lawh Al-Mahfooz).
Exalted (in dignity), purified,”
[‘Abasa 80:13, 14]
“A Messenger (Muhammad (Peace be upon him)) from Allah, reciting (the Quran) purified pages (purified from Al-Batil (falsehood, etc.))
Containing correct and straight laws from Allah”
[al-Bayyinah 98:2-3].
The Qur’an that we read is the word of Allah, may He be exalted, but we recite it with our voices. So the words are the words of the Creator and the voice is the voice of the reciter.
End quote fromFataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah(3/21)
For more details on this issue, please seeMukhtasar as-Sawaa‘iq al-Mursalahby Ibn al-Qayyim (503-510)
And Allah knows best.

PUBLISHERM.NajimudeeN. MD,IRI