Question:

Please assist with the vowels, translation and a comment on ʾAllāhumma ṣalli ʿalā Sayyidinā Muḥammadin kamā huwa ʾahluhu

Reply:

I have not found those exact words. This does not mean that the narration does not exist. If you have a source, please share it with me.  In any case, it would be:

اَللّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَّى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا هُوَ أَهْلُهُ

“O Allāh, shower Your salutations upon our master, Muḥammad, to the extent that he is worthy of it.”

I have however found our ʾImāms, ʾal-ʾĀlūsī and ʾal-Baghawī (may Allāh’s mercy be upon them), narrating as follows:

اَللّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَّى مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا هُوَ أَهْلُهُ وُمُسْتَحِقُّهُ

ʾAllāhumma ṣalli ʿalā Muḥammadin kamā huwa ʾahluhu wa mustaḥiqquhu.

“O Allāh, shower Your salutations upon Muḥammad, to the extent that he is worthy of it and entitled to it.”

 Salutations (Ṣalawāt)

I am aware that many translators prefer to keep matters simple and use, “O Allāh bless…” I prefer “salutations” in order to keep a distinction with “bārik – bless” which can be found in the same sentence at times.

Virtues

Entire books and more worthy writings have been dedicated to the topic of the virtues of ṣalawāt. I shall confine myself to mentioning:

عن عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص رضي الله عنهما أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : (مَنْ صَلَّى عَلَيَّ صَلَاةً صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ بِهَا عَشْرًا)

He who [asks Allāh to] shower me with one salutation, Allāh will shower him with ten salutations because of it. [Muslim, narrated by ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAmr, may Allāh be pleased with him]

Continuity

Allāh Most High says:

إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

Indeed Allāh and His angels invoke salutations upon the Prophet. O you who believe, invoke salutations upon him and greetings of peace. [ʾal-ʾAḥzāb: 56]

The commentaries of the above are well known and accessible, I only wish to highlight one point here in association with my further comment. The verb associated with Allāh and the angels is in the muḍāriʿ state. Our scholars contextualise its grammatical implication in the verse as implying continuity. It is not something once off or intermittent.

The “Worth” and “Entitlement” of Muḥammad (ﷺ)

We would understand that continuity is general in all ṣalawāt, based upon the above Tafsīr point. What additional meaning then does “worth” provide?

Although we tend to use ṣalawāt in the context of Ṣalāh ʾalan Nabī, both the Qurʾān and Ḥadīth use the term for others as well, for example:

هُوَ الَّذِي يُصَلِّي عَلَيْكُمْ وَمَلَائِكَتُهُ لِيُخْرِجَكُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ ۚ وَكَانَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَحِيمًا

It is He who showers you with salutations, and His angels, to extract you from darknesses unto light. Indeed He is Most Merciful unto the believers. [ʾal-ʾAḥzāb: 43]

Yet surely must be a distinction between the type of ṣalawāt upon ordinary believers, the Prophets, and the Chief of all Prophets (ﷺ).

The wording of the above Ṣalāh draws the distinction in terms of the worth of the recipient.

Believers increase or decrease in faith and rank, our spiritual worth therefore fluctuates.

Prophets continuously increase in faith and rank and are far above the greatest saints. By invoking ṣalāh in terms of the value of the Prophets, an unimaginable level of distinction is automatically drawn between the salutation upon the general body of believers, and Allāh’s special slaves, the Prophets.

If such is their comparative worth, what then is the worth of greatest station of their chief, Muḥammad r?

Furthermore, their chief possesses many exclusive ranks, such as Seal of the Prophets, Beloved of Allāh, etc. We cannot fulfil the right of Ṣalāh ʿalan Nabī, so we ask Allāh to convey on our behalf. Similarly we cannot fathom the station of Muḥammad (ﷺ). Thus we articulate it simply as his “worth” and leave it to the perfect knowledge of Allāh to shower such salutations, which to us is comparatively infinite.

Similarly Allāh knows best what the true entitlement of Muḥammad (ﷺ) might be. However, ponder over this. Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ) has said:

إن الدال على الخير كفاعله

“Verily the indicator towards good is like the doer.” [ʿat-Tirmidhī, from ʾAnas, may Allāh be pleased with him]

Now who is the ultimate indicator and guide towards good, from whom every good deed originates? Every letter of the Qurʾān we recite, every kindness unto even a cat, all originate from the teachings of Muḥammad (ﷺ). He is entitled to the rewards of every deed of every Muslim in every era. This alone would be such a titanic amount to which to multiply our Ṣalawāt upon him. Yet this is but a single facet. Allāh alone knows the extent of the worth and entitlement of the facets of the diamond that is Muḥammad (ﷺ).

May Allāh reward you, and grant us all knowledge and ability to act in avenues of good. May He resurrect us with His chosen slaves.

سليمان الكندي

@sulayman_Kindi