Meaning of Sending Blessings on the Prophet

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"Sending blessings upon someone" does not mean the same thing when the subject is Allah, an angel or a believer. The founding verse gathers the three: "Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, send blessings upon him and greet him with a worthy greeting" (surah al-Ahzab, 56). The scholars explained the sense precisely.

Allah's blessing upon the Prophet: His mercy and praise

Sufyan ath-Thawri and other people of knowledge explained, as at-Tirmidhi reports in his chapter: "the Lord's blessing is mercy, and the angels' blessing is seeking forgiveness" (at-Tirmidhi, 485). When Allah "blesses" His Prophet, He covers him with mercy and praises him before His angels; the scholars more broadly include His extolling, His acceptance and the reward He grants him. Allah obviously has no need of us: He is the one who honors.

The blessing of the angels and the believers: forgiveness and supplication

The angels "bless" the Prophet by seeking forgiveness for him and invoking in his favor, they who never cease to praise him. The believers "bless" him with a formulated supplication: "O Allah, bestow blessings upon Muhammad...". The same word, three realities: mercy from Allah, forgiveness sought by the angels, supplication made by the servants. This is why the human formula begins with "Allahumma": one asks Allah to bless him, one does not bless him by oneself.

The tashahhud teaches the right place

Ibn Mas'ud reports: "We used to say in the prayer: peace upon Allah, peace upon so-and-so. The Prophet told us one day: Allah is Himself the Peace (as-Salam). When one of you sits in the prayer, let him say: All greetings belong to Allah, and the blessings and the pure things. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, with the mercy of Allah and His graces. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah. When you say that, it reaches every righteous servant of Allah, in the heaven and on the earth."

Muslim in his Sahih (402)

This hadith fixes the grammar of worship: the greetings (tahiyyat) and the blessings (salawat) belong first to Allah; the salam is addressed to the Prophet and to the righteous servants. Sending blessings on the Prophet thus means asking Allah to honor him, which preserves the oneness of worship while giving the Prophet his highest rank.

Why does Allah command it?

The command of the verse ("send blessings upon him and greet him") honors the Prophet and elevates his believers: whoever sends one blessing receives ten from Allah (Muslim, 408), joins the angels who praise the Prophet unceasingly, and follows the attitude of the whole heavenly creation. The salat on the Prophet is thus at once a duty of love, an easy remembrance, and among the deeds with the swiftest reward: see the merits of sending blessings on the Prophet.