Among such occasions is the following: if someone brings you his charity so that you may distribute it, say, “O Allah, send blessings upon him.” Suppose a man hands you two hundred thousand riyals and says, “This is my zakat; distribute it.” You should respond, “O Allah, send blessings upon so-and-so,” and let him hear you say it. The basis for this is Allah’s words to His Prophet ﷺ: “Take from their wealth a charity by which you will purify them and cause them to grow, and pray for them” (Q 9:103).

ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Awfa said, “I brought my charity”—or he said, “My father brought it”—“and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘O Allah, send blessings upon the family of Abu Awfa.’” This too is unobjectionable.

Likewise, if you invoke blessings upon a person without making it his distinctive badge—so that every time you mention him you do so—there is no harm. Even if we were to say, “O Allah, send blessings upon Abu Bakr,” or “upon ʿUmar,” or “upon ʿUthman,” or “upon ʿAli,” that is permissible; just do not turn it into a constant emblem, for if you do so you will have treated him as though he were a prophet.

The author opens this section with the noble verse: “Indeed Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, invoke blessings upon him and salute him with a worthy salutation” (Q 33:56). Reflect on how this verse combines information, command, and emphasis. “Indeed Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet”—this is a statement from Allah meant to urge us to send blessings and salutations upon him. Allah and His angels—all the angels in every heaven and on every earth—bless the Prophet. The angels constitute an unseen realm of Allah’s creation; none can count them except Allah. The Frequented House (al-Bayt al-Maʿmūr) in the seventh heaven is entered each day by seventy thousand angels who, once they leave, never return; the next day, another company takes their place. Thus