the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, “O Messenger of Allah, how should we invoke blessings upon you, O members of the Household?” He said: “Say: O Allah, bestow Your blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You bestowed blessings upon Abraham and upon the family of Abraham. Surely You are Praiseworthy, Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You blessed Abraham and the family of Abraham. Surely You are Praiseworthy, Glorious.” (1)
Abu al-Hasan al-Sarakhsī informed us; Zāhir ibn Ahmad informed us; Abu Ishaq al-Hashimī informed us; Mus'ab informed us, from Malik, from Abd Allah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm, from his father, from Amr ibn Sulayman al-Zuraqī, who said: Abu Humayd al-Sa'idī told me that they said, “O Messenger of Allah, how should we invoke blessings upon you?” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Say: O Allah, bestow Your blessings upon Muhammad, his wives, and his descendants, as You bestowed blessings upon Abraham; and bless Muhammad, his wives, and his descendants, as You blessed the family of Abraham. Surely You are Praiseworthy, Glorious.” (2)
Abu Amr and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Nasawī informed us; Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hīrī informed us; Muhammad ibn Ya'qub informed us; al-Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Dūrī informed us; Khalid ibn Makhlad al-Qatwānī informed us; Musa ibn Ya'qub informed us; al-Abbas ibn Kaysan informed us; Abd Allah ibn Shaddad informed me, from Ibn Mas'ud, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The people closest to me on the Day of Resurrection will be those who invoke blessings upon me most often.” (3)
Abu Abd Allah ibn al-Fadl al-Kharaqī informed us; Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abd Allah al-Taysafūnī informed us; Abd Allah ibn Umar al-Jawharī informed us; Ahmad ibn Ali al-Kushmīhanī informed us; Ali ibn Hujr informed us; Isma'il ibn Ja'far informed us; al-Ala ibn Abd al-Rahman informed us, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever invokes blessings upon me once, Allah bestows blessings upon him tenfold.” (4)
(1) Recorded by al-Bukhari in the Book of Quranic Exegesis, chapter: “Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet ...” [the verse], 8:532; and by the author in Sharh al-Sunnah (Explanation of the Sunnah), 3:190.
(2) Recorded by al-Bukhari in the Book of Supplications, chapter: “May blessings be invoked upon anyone other than the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him?” 11:169; by Muslim in the Book of Prayer, chapter: “Invoking blessings upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, after the tashahhud (testimony of faith),” no. 407, 1:305; and by the author in Sharh al-Sunnah, 3:191.
(3) Recorded by al-Tirmidhi in the Book of Prayer, chapter: “What has been reported concerning the merit of invoking blessings upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,” 2:607-608. He said: “This is a hasan gharib (sound, singularly transmitted) hadith.” It was also recorded by Ibn Hibban in Mawarid al-Zam'an, no. 2389, p. 594; and by the author in Sharh al-Sunnah, 3:197. Al-Sakhawi said in al-Qawl al-Badi, pp. 191-192: “Its chain includes Musa ibn Yaqub al-Zumai. Al-Daraqutni said that he alone narrated it. I say: the reports from him concerning it differ. It was narrated as: from Abd Allah ibn Shaddad, directly from Ibn Masud, without an intermediary. This is the version of al-Tirmidhi, al-Bukhari in al-Tarikh al-Kabir, and Ibn Abi Asim; it is likewise found in the Mashyakha of Abu al-Husayn al-Narsi, through the route used by al-Tirmidhi. It was also narrated as: from Abd Allah ibn Shaddad, from his father, from Ibn Masud. This was recorded by Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah, and through him by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, Abu Nuaym, and Ibn Bashkuwal. Ibn Asim likewise recorded it in his Fadl al-Salat, as did Ibn Adi in al-Kamil, al-Dinawari in al-Mujalasah, al-Daraqutni in al-Afrad, al-Taymi in al-Targhib, Ibn al-Jarrah in his Amali, and Abu al-Yaman Asakir through Abu al-Tahir al-Dhuhali, among others. This version is more widely transmitted and better known. Al-Nasai said of al-Zumai that he was not strong, but Yahya ibn Ma'in declared him trustworthy, which is sufficient testimony in his favor; Abu Dawud, Ibn Hibban, Ibn Adi, and a group of others also declared him trustworthy. Al-Bukhari also indicated in al-Tarikh that al-Zumai narrated it from Ibn Kaysan, from Utbah ibn Abd Allah, from Masud. And Allah knows best.”
(4) Recorded by Muslim in the Book of Prayer, chapter: “Invoking blessings upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, after the tashahhud,” no. 408, 1:306; and by the author in Sharh al-Sunnah, 3:195.