Addressing Prophet ﷺ Directly In His Absence and After His Passing Away

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

وعلى آلك واصحابك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

فداك ابي وامي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Blessing and peace be upon you, my master, Apostle of God!

And upon your family and your companions, my master, Apostle of God!

May my father and mother be sacrificed for your sake, Apostle of God!

Many extremists and other misguided groups within the Ummah falsely claim that it is idolatrous or at the very least an innovation in the Religion to address the holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم directly after his passing away from this temporary world. The form of Salawat and Salam that I have written at the beginning of this entry is declared as innovative (bid’ah) or even shirk by such ignorant people. But we in Ahl us-Sunnati wal-Jama’ah affirm that validity of addressing the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم directly during his absence and after him having passed away from this world. Here I shall present some of our proofs:

During the Tashahhud in Salah we recite the following:

السَّلامُ عَلَيـكَ أَيُّهـا النَّبِـيُّ وَرَحْمَـةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكـاتُه

Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

إِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَلاَئِكَةً سَيَّاحِينَ فِي الأَرْضِ يُبَلِّغُونِي مِنْ أُمَّتِي السَّلاَمَ

Verily, Allah has Angels that travel the Earth conveying to me from my Ummah the Salam (Sunan an-Nasa’i)

Therefore it is correct to address the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم directly with Salam (by saying يا نبي سلام عليك and other variations of the Salam) since there are Angels who convey our Salam to him.

As for addressing the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم with addresses other than the Salam after he has passed away from this world, that too is established from the Sahabah رضى الله عنهم

For example, shortly after the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم passed away, sayyidina Abi Bakr رضى الله عنه did the following actions and spoke the following words:

فَتَيَمَّمَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَهْوَ مُغَشًّى بِثَوْبِ حِبَرَةٍ فَكَشَفَ عَنْ وَجْهِهِ ثُمَّ أَكَبَّ عَلَيْهِ فَقَبَّلَهُ وَبَكَى‏ ثُمَّ قَالَ بِأَبِي أَنْتَ وَأُمِّي وَاللَّهِ لاَ يَجْمَعُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ مَوْتَتَيْنِ أَمَّا الْمَوْتَةُ الَّتِي كُتِبَتْ عَلَيْكَ فَقَدْ مُتَّهَا‏

Abu Bakr رضى الله عنه  went straight to Allah’s Messenger ﷺ who was covered with a Hibarah (a kind of Yemenite cloth). He then uncovered the Prophet’s face and bowed over him and kissed him and wept, saying, “Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you. By Allah, Allah will never cause you to die twice. As for the death which was written for you, it has come upon you.” (Sahih al-Bukhari)