walled in with masonry and then flooded with molten copper, lead, and marble, so that Allah would safeguard the body of this noble Prophet. The lead was poured right down to bedrock, and for that reason the Prophet’s grave, ﷺ, has remained perfectly protected.

Hence, when a Muslim says, “Allahumma salli wa sallim ‘ala Muhammad” (O Allah, bless and grant peace to Muhammad), he is asking that the Prophet be preserved from every physical harm, both in life and after death, and that his law likewise be shielded from anyone who might seek to efface or assault it.

Know, dear brothers, that the earth can never consume the bodies of the prophets—never. Allah has forbidden the earth to devour their remains; therefore the bodies of the prophets are safe from the soil that eats away every other corpse, except those Allah wills.

In short, this noble verse is Allah’s command that we invoke blessings and salutations upon him, and doing so is obligatory in a number of situations. One of them is when his name is mentioned in your presence: invoke blessings upon him. Gabriel came to the Prophet, ﷺ, and said, “May the nose of the person who hears your name yet fails to bless you be rubbed in dust.” The expression “may his nose be rubbed in dust” means: may he be abased, thrust onto dusty ground. So whenever you hear the Messenger mentioned, say, “Allahumma salli wa sallim ‘ala Muhammad,” for he has a rightful claim upon you.

Invoking blessings upon the Prophet is also, according to many scholars, obligatory within the prayer, during the tashahhud