Prayer upon the Prophet within the prayer

In every prayer, after the tashahhud and before the final salam, the Muslim prays upon the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: this is the prayer upon the Prophet. The scholars are unanimous that it is legitimate within the tashahhud, but they have differed over its legal status, over its exact place in the prayer, and over the wording that suffices. The encyclopedia addresses these questions in two entries: the status of the prayer upon the Prophet after the final tashahhud, then the form of this prayer and the minimum that suffices.

The status of the prayer upon the Prophet after the final tashahhud

The scholars agreed upon the legitimacy of the prayer upon the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, within the tashahhud; they only differed over its status: is the prayer upon the Prophet an obligation among the obligations of the prayer, or a sunna among the sunnas of the prayer?

The Hanafis, the Malikis and Ahmad, according to one of the two narrations from him, hold that the prayer upon the Prophet after the tashahhud is a sunna among the sunnas of the prayer, and not an obligation. Their main evidence is the hadith of al-Hasan ibn al-Hurr from al-Qasim ibn Mukhaymira, who said: 'Alqama took my hand and related to me that Abdullah ibn Mas'ud took his hand and said: the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, took my hand as I take yours, then taught me the tashahhud and said:

"Say: all greetings are due to Allah, and the prayers and the good deeds. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger." Then he said: "When you have done this, you have fulfilled your prayer: if you wish to stand, then stand, and if you wish to remain seated, then remain seated."

Reported by Abu Dawud (968 and 970), Ahmad (4006) and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (1961), authentic hadith

The final clause, "if you wish to stand, then stand, and if you wish to remain seated, then remain seated," is, according to the correct view as Ibn Hibban and others said, the words of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: Zuhayr, one of the transmitters of the hadith, inserted them into the report. Ibn Hibban cites al-Bayan as stating that his words "when you have said this, you have fulfilled what is due upon you" are only the words of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, and not the words of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him; Zuhayr inserted them into the report.

Abu Ya'la indeed informed us, from Ghassan ibn al-Rabi', from Ibn Thawban, from al-Hasan ibn al-Hurr, from al-Qasim ibn Mukhaymira, who said: 'Alqama took my hand, and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud took the hand of 'Alqama, and the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, took the hand of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and taught him the tashahhud: "all greetings are due to Allah, and the prayers and the good deeds; peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings; peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah; I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger." Abdullah ibn Mas'ud then said: "when you have finished this, you have finished your prayer; if you wish, remain, and if you wish, depart."

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "When any one of you performs the tashahhud, let him seek refuge with Allah from four things" (reported by Muslim (588)). This is a command to seek refuge with Allah directly after the tashahhud, without pause, and this command does not mention the prayer upon the Prophet.

Fadala ibn Ubayd further reported the following:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, heard a man supplicating in his prayer without having praised Allah and without having prayed upon the Prophet. He said: "This man has hastened." Then he called him and said to him, or said to another: "When any one of you prays, let him begin by glorifying his Lord, the Most High, and praising Him, then let him pray upon the Prophet, then let him supplicate thereafter as he wishes."

Reported by Abu Dawud (1481) and at-Tirmidhi (3477), authentic hadith

In this hadith the Prophet did not order the worshipper who had not prayed upon the Prophet in his prayer to repeat it; this shows that it is not an obligation. Had it been an obligation, he would have ordered him to repeat it, as he ordered the one whose bowing and prostration were not properly performed, saying to him: "Return and pray, for you have not prayed." Moreover, were the prayer upon him an obligation, the clarification would have had to be delayed until the moment of need: yet he taught them the tashahhud and said, "then let him choose thereafter whatever supplication he wishes," without mentioning the prayer upon him.

The judge Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) said: the prayer upon the Prophet is recommended (masnuna) and is not a condition for the validity of the prayer, contrary to al-Shafi'i and Ibn al-Mawwaz, who held it obligatory in the final tashahhud, on the basis of the Prophet's words in the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, after mentioning the tashahhud: "when you have done this, your prayer is complete". His arguments are the following:

• sitting is not one of the pillars of the prayer; the prayer upon the Prophet is therefore not required there in the way standing and prostration are;
• the prayer upon the prophets is not a condition for the validity of the prayer, in consideration of the other prophets;
• the mention of a descendant of Adam within the prayer, distinct from the recitation of the Quran, cannot be a condition: its basis is our saying, "O Allah, forgive the believing men and the believing women."

(al-Ishraf 'ala nukat masa'il al-khilaf 1/286-287, no. 203; see Ahkam al-Qur'an by al-Jassas 5/243, al-Ikhtiyar 1/54, Ahkam al-Qur'an by Ibn al-'Arabi 3/623, at-Tamhid 16/191 and 195, Tafsir al-Qurtubi 14/235.)

The Shafi'is, the Hanbalis according to the most widespread view of their school, and some Malikis, hold on their part that the prayer upon the Prophet is obligatory in the final tashahhud: whoever omits it, his prayer is null and void. Their evidence is the hadith of Ka'b ibn Ujra, may Allah be pleased with him, according to which the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, came out to them and they said: O Messenger of Allah, we know how to greet you; how then do we pray upon you? He replied:

"Say: O Allah, pray upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad as You prayed upon the family of Ibrahim, You are indeed Praiseworthy, Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You blessed the family of Ibrahim, You are indeed Praiseworthy, Glorious."

Reported by al-Bukhari (5996) and Muslim (406)

This formula, known as the Ibrahimic prayer, reads as follows in transliteration: "Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala ali Muhammadin kama sallayta 'ala ali Ibrahima, innaka Hamidun Majid; Allahumma barik 'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala ali Muhammadin kama barakta 'ala ali Ibrahima, innaka Hamidun Majid."

The hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: this hadith was used as evidence for the obligation of the prayer upon the Prophet in every prayer, because of the addition found in some chains of transmission from Abu Mas'ud, an addition narrated by the authors of the Sunan collections and authenticated by at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Khuzayma and al-Hakim, with the wording: "How shall we pray upon you when we pray upon you in our prayer?" al-Daraqutni said: its chain is hasan and connected; al-Bayhaqi said: its chain is hasan and authentic.

A group of Shafi'is, such as Ibn Khuzayma and al-Bayhaqi, relied on this addition to establish the obligation of the prayer upon the Prophet after the tashahhud and before the salam. He objects, however, that nothing in this addition indicates that: it only indicates the obligation of saying these words for one who has already prayed upon the Prophet in the tashahhud; and even were it to indicate the obligation of the prayer upon him in itself, it would not indicate this specific place.

Al-Bayhaqi nonetheless came close to it as follows: when the verse was revealed (Surah al-Ahzab, 56), the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had already taught them how to greet him with the salam in the tashahhud, which takes place within the prayer; they therefore asked how to pray upon him, and he taught them. This indicates that the prayer upon him in the tashahhud comes after completing the tashahhud he had taught them. He then said that a group defended the position of al-Shafi'i, citing textual and rational proofs, transmitting the obligation from a group of Companions, Successors and those who came after them, and he begins to set out the most correct view (the source text breaks off at this point).

This addition is reported by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak (988) and by al-Bayhaqi in as-Sunan al-Kubra (2672). Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Sharh Sahih Muslim (4/124): this addition is authentic; it was narrated by the two preserving imams Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban al-Busti (the ha of Hibban bearing a kasra) and al-Hakim Abu Abdallah in their two authentic collections, and al-Hakim said: it is an authentic addition.

The form of the prayer upon the Prophet

Reports from the Companions and the Successors have come down on this subject. Al-Hakim reported one of them with a strong chain from Ibn Mas'ud: "Let the man perform the tashahhud, then pray upon the Prophet, then supplicate for himself." This is the strongest argument in favour of al-Shafi'i's position: Ibn Mas'ud indeed related that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, taught them the tashahhud in the prayer and said, "then let him choose thereafter whatever supplication he wishes".

The command to pray upon the Prophet before the supplication, established from Ibn Mas'ud, therefore proves that he was aware of this addition placed between the tashahhud and the supplication. Al-'Umari reported from Ibn Umar, with a sound chain, that he said: "There is no prayer without recitation, without the tashahhud and without the prayer upon me."

Al-Bayhaqi reported in al-Khilafiyyat, with a strong chain, from ash-Sha'bi, one of the great Successors, that he said: "Whoever does not pray upon the Prophet in the tashahhud, let him repeat his prayer."

Ibn Qudama (may Allah have mercy on him) said: and because the prayer is an act of worship in which the mention of Allah, exalted be He, by the testimony of faith has been required, the mention of the Prophet has been required likewise, as with the call to prayer (adhan) (al-Mughni 2/95; see Mughni al-Muhtaj 1/172, Sharh Muslim 4/106 and 110, al-Insaf 2/116 and 117, al-Ifsah 1/174 and 175, Kashshaf al-Qina' 1/388, Manar as-Sabil 1/104).

The scholars then differed over the manner of praying upon the Prophet, and over the amount that suffices. Al-Shafi'i and Ahmad, according to one of the two narrations from him, chose to say: "O Allah, pray upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad as You prayed upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim, You are indeed Praiseworthy, Glorious; and bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim, You are indeed Praiseworthy, Glorious" (reported by al-Bukhari (3190) and Muslim (406)). The wording chosen by al-Shafi'i however contains a nuance: it does not include "and upon the family of Ibrahim" until the mention of the blessing.

The other narration from Ahmad is as follows: "O Allah, pray upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad as You prayed upon Ibrahim, You are indeed Praiseworthy, Glorious; and bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You blessed Ibrahim, You are indeed Praiseworthy, Glorious" (authentic hadith, reported by Ibn Majah (904)); this is the one chosen by al-Khiraqi.

As for the preferred view of Abu Hanifa, only what Muhammad ibn al-Hasan mentioned in his Book of Hajj is found of it: the formula is to say: "O Allah, pray upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad as You prayed upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim, You are indeed Praiseworthy, Glorious; and bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim (in the two worlds), You are indeed Praiseworthy, Glorious" (reported by al-Bukhari (3190) and Muslim (406)). Muhammad ibn al-Hasan said: Malik ibn Anas related to us something similar. And Malik said: the practice among us is upon this.

As for the minimum, the least that suffices according to al-Shafi'i is to say: "O Allah, pray upon Muhammad"; whatever is added to this is sunna. The companions of al-Shafi'i differed over "the family": they have two positions on this, one being that the prayer is not required upon them, and... (the source text breaks off at this point).