Salawat: A Source of Joy for the Prophet – Shaykh Amin Buxton
Every year in the blessed month of Rabi al-Awwal, we should come to know our Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, a little better. In this series, we try to do this by looking at the things that brought a smile to his blessed face and at times made him laugh.
Abu Talha narrates that one day the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was in good spirits. Joy could be seen on his face. The Companions said: “O Messenger of Allah, today you are in good spirits and joy can be seen on your face.”
“Yes,” said the Prophet, “A visitor came from my Lord and said: ‘When a member of your nation bestows one prayer upon you, Allah records for that person ten good deeds, erases ten of his bad deeds, raises him ten degrees and bestows upon him a prayer like the prayer he bestowed.’” (Narrated by Ahmad and al-Nasa’i)
There was nothing that pleased the Companions more than to see the Prophet with joy on his face. They could not help remarking on this, hoping to know why this was the case. The Prophet explained that an angel had come to him bearing good tidings. In some narrations this angel is named as Jibril, peace be upon him.
The message which the angel conveyed from his Lord relates to the reward given to someone who bestows one prayer upon the Prophet. The Prophet was overjoyed at what had been gifted to his nation through this simple act. His joy was in what benefited his followers the most – an increase in their good deeds, an erasure of their bad deeds and the raising of their ranks – all of this multiplied ten fold! But what is even greater, is that Allah Himself bestows prayers upon such a person.
Allah’s Prayers Upon Us
Other hadith tell us that if we bestow one prayer upon the Prophet, Allah responds by bestowing ten prayers upon us. But even if it is only one, this is more than enough since a prayer from Allah is something which cannot be measured or quantified. Imam Ibn Ata’illah al-Iskandari said that if all the good actions you performed in your entire life were weighed against one prayer from Allah, the prayer from Allah would outweigh them all.
This is one of many hadith that inform us of the benefits of bestowing prayers (salawat) upon the Prophet. When we take a few moments to do this, we recognise the huge debt that we owe our guide and acknowledge our inability to recompense him. We thus ask Allah to do this on our behalf and hope that it brings joy to our beloved Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
Shaykh Amin Buxton was born in London and became Muslim in 1999. He studied Arabic and Islamic Studies at SOAS, University of London, and then enrolled at Dar al Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen. There he studied the sacred sciences under the supervision of Habib Umar bin Hafiz.
He has edited and translated a number of books which explain the Prophetic way such as Imam al-Haddad’s ‘Beneficial Counsels’ and provides content for Muwasala. Since 2017 he has resided with his family in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is involved in a number of educational initiatives around the UK, including the iSyllabus, and has taught at the SeekersHub Retreat.
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