Salawat: Interpretation of The Main Verse of Salawat

Hawzah News Agency- Abu-Hamza said:

سَأَلْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: ﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا﴾؟

- فَقَالَ: الصَّلَاةُ مِنَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ رَحْمَةٌ، وَمِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ تَزْكِيَةٌ، وَمِنَ النَّاسِ دُعَاءٌ، وَأَمَّا قَوْلُهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ ﴿وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا﴾ فَإِنَّهُ يَعْنِي التَّسْلِيمَ لَهُ فِيمَا وَرَدَ عَنْهُ.

قَالَ: فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: كَيْفَ نُصَلِّي عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِهِ؟

- قَالَ: تَقُولُونَ: صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ وَصَلَوَاتُ مَلَائِكَتِهِ وَأَنْبِيَائِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَجَمِيعِ خَلْقِهِ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَيْهِمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ.

قَالَ: فَقُلْتُ: فَمَا ثَوَابُ مَنْ صَلَّى عَلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ بِهَذِهِ الصَّلَوَاتِ؟

- قَالَ: الْخُرُوجُ مِنَ الذُّنُوبِ وَاللَّهِ كَهَيْئَةِ يَوْمَ وَلَدَتْهُ أُمُّهُ.

I asked Imam Sadiq (pbuh) about the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: “Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace” [Quran 33:56].

- He said: “Salawat from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is mercy; from the angels, it is purification (praise); and from the people, it is supplication. As for His saying, Mighty and Majestic, ‘and ask [Allah to grant him] peace (Sallimu taslima),’ it means complete submission to him in whatever is reported from him.”

The narrator said: I then asked him, “How should we send blessings (salawat) upon Muhammad and his family?”

- He replied: “You should say: ‘May the blessings of Allah, the blessings of His angels, His prophets, His messengers, and all of His creation be upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad; and peace be upon him and upon them, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.’”

The narrator said: I then asked, “What is the reward for someone who sends blessings upon the Prophet (pbuh and his family) by saying this very salawat?”

- He said: “By Allah, it is purifying from sins just like the day his mother gave birth to him.”

Wasa'il al-Shi'ah, Vol. 7, p. 193, No. 9100