Chapter: The Manner of Sending Blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ (1)
First ḥadīth
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā reported: Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah met me and said, “Shall I not present you with a gift? (2) The Prophet ﷺ once came out to us and we said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, we have learned how to greet you with peace; but how are we to invoke blessings upon you?’ He replied, ‘Say: O Allah, bless Muḥammad and the family of Muḥammad as You blessed Abraham and the family of Abraham. Truly, You are Praiseworthy, Glorious. And shower grace upon Muḥammad and the family of Muḥammad as You showered grace upon Abraham and the family of Abraham. Truly, You are Praiseworthy, Glorious.’ ”
General meaning
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, one of the foremost Successors and their scholars, encountered Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah, one of the Companions—may Allah be pleased with him. Kaʿb said, “Shall I not give you a gift?” The finest gifts they exchanged—rightly so—were questions of sacred knowledge. Delighted by so precious a gift, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān replied, “Indeed, offer it to me.” (3)
Kaʿb then recounted: “The Prophet ﷺ once came out to us, and we asked him, ‘O Messenger of Allah, you have taught us how to greet you with peace, but how should we send blessings upon you?’ He answered, ‘Say…,’ then taught them the required formula. Its sense is to beseech Allah Most High to bless His Prophet Muḥammad and his family—that is, those who follow him in his religion—and that these blessings, in their abundance and excellence, match the blessings bestowed upon the Father of the Prophets, Abraham, and the family of Abraham, namely the prophets and the righteous who followed him. He also asked that added good be granted to Muḥammad and his family, just as the blessing granted to the family of Abraham. For Allah is rich in praise, the Lord of majesty; such are His attributes, and He is ever-near in giving, boundless in generosity.
Scholarly disagreement
The two Imāms, al-Shāfiʿī and Aḥmad, maintained that invoking blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ in the final tashahhud of the prayer is obligatory; if omitted, the prayer is invalid. They based this on the Prophet’s ﷺ statement, when asked, “How are we to invoke blessings upon you?” He answered, “Say: O Allah, bless Muḥammad…,”—the ḥadīth.