upon the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, offer them in the finest manner, for you do not know: they may be presented to him.” He said: “Then say to him, ‘Teach us.’” He said:

“Say: ‘O Allah, bestow Your blessings, mercy and bounty upon the master of the messengers, the leader of the God-fearing and the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, Your servant and Messenger, the leader in goodness, the guide to goodness and the Messenger of mercy. O Allah, raise him to a station of praise that those of earlier and later generations will look upon with longing. O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon Abraham and the family of Abraham. Indeed, You are Praiseworthy, Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You blessed Abraham and the family of Abraham. Indeed, You are Praiseworthy, Glorious.’”

I do not have the chain of transmission of this report at hand. Nor, to date, has any Prophetic hadith with an established chain of transmission reached me containing the wording, “as You sent blessings upon Abraham, and as You blessed Abraham and the family of Abraham.” Rather, the hadiths in the Sunan collections agree with those in the two Sahīh collections. Thus, in Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Abū Hurayrah reports that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever wishes to receive the fullest measure when invoking blessings upon us, the members of the household, should say: ‘O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad the Prophet, his wives—the Mothers of the Believers—his descendants and the members of his household, as You sent blessings upon the family of Abraham. Indeed, You are Praiseworthy, Glorious.’”

Al-Shāfi‘ī transmitted in his Musnad, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: “We asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, how should we invoke blessings upon you?’”—meaning during prayer. He said:

“Say: ‘O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon Abraham. And bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You blessed Abraham.’ Then greet me with peace.”