Page 138 - Seekers Guide Book

Islam and the Quran

56 Is it mandatory to say sallallah
(

alayhi wasallam may the peace and
)
blessings of God be upon him after the

Prophet’s name?

t is not mandatory, as your love and respect for the
IProphet lies in your heart. Let me explain this through
an incident which had taken place in Madinah after the
demise of the Prophet Muhammad. When Abu Bakr
(Prophet’s closest companion and the first caliph of
Islam) arrived in Madinah and saw the inconsolable state
of the other Companions, he said the following:

No doubt! Whoever worshipped
Muhammad, then Muhammad is dead,
but whoever worshipped God, then God is
alive and shall never die. (Sahih al-Bukhari,
hadith no. 3667)

Abu Bakr did not use any suffix with the name of the
Prophet because the respect one has in one’s heart
cannot be measured by the use of prefixes or suffixes.
It is important to distinguish between true respect and
paying lip service. Respect comes from within and does
not have to become a matter of ritualistic lip service.

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