Friday 13 November 2009

Does Allah Pray to Himself? Part II

“Islam and the prayers of Allah; An examination of the worship and praise which Allah performs,

by Sam Shamoun”

Continuing from Part I

Responding to Some objections

Some Muslims argue that Allah’s prayers are really his mercy which he showers on his servants. In other words, when the Qur’an says that Allah prays it really means that Allah is showing mercy. The problem with this assertion is that the Muslim scripture distinguishes between the prayers of Allah and his mercy:

Upon them shall be prayers from their Lord AND MERCY (salawatun min rabbihim wa-rahmatun), and they are the rightly directed. S. 2:157

So this explanation won’t work, just as the following Muslim website admits:
 
“Blessings upon the Prophet” – according to the majority of scholars, what is meant is mercy from Allaah, prayers for forgiveness offered by the angels, and du’aa’ offered by humans. Others – including Abu’l-Aaliyah among the earlier scholars and Ibn al-Qayyim among the later scholars, and Ibn ‘Uthaymeen among the contemporary scholars – are of the view that the meaning of blessings upon the Prophet is praise for him among the “higher group” (al-mala’ al-‘a’la, i.e., the angels, cf. al-Saffaat 37:8), and the prayers of the angels and the Muslims for blessings upon him are for him to be praised by Allaah among the “higher group” (the angels). Ibn al-Qayyim wrote a book on this topic entitled Jala’ al-Afhaam fi Fadl al-Salaati wa’l-Salaam ‘ala Khayr il-Anaam, in which he discussed at length the meaning of blessings upon the Prophet, the rulings thereon, and its benefits.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The phrase “Bless Muhammad (salli ‘ala Muhammad)” – it was said that blessing from Allaah means mercy, blessings from the angels means prayer for forgiveness, and blessing from humans means du’aa’.
If it is said: “The angels sent blessings upon him,” it means that they prayed for forgiveness for him.
If it is said, “The khateeb sent blessings upon him,” it means that he prayed for blessing for him.
If it is said, “Allaah sent blessings upon him,” it means that He bestowed mercy upon him
.

This is well known among the scholars, but the correct view is something different, because blessing (salaah) is more specific than mercy. Hence the Muslims are unanimously agreed that it is permissible to pray for mercy for every believer, but they differed as to whether we may pray for blessings (using this specific word of salaah or salli ‘ala…) for anyone other than the Prophets. If the word salaah here is taken to mean mercy, then there is no difference between them, and just as we pray for mercy for a person we may send blessings upon them.

Moreover, Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
 
“They are those on whom are the Salawaat (i.e. who are blessed and will be forgiven) from their Lord, and (they are those who) receive His Mercy, and it is they who are the guided ones” [al-Baqarah 2:157].

The word rahmah (mercy) is mentioned in conjunction with the word salawaat (blessings), which indicates that they are two different things, so the meaning of the verse is clear. The scholars used the word salaah (blessings) in some places and the word rahmah (mercy) in others, so salaah is the not the same as mercy. The best that can be said concerning this is what Abu’l-‘Aaliyah said: The salaah (blessing) of Allaah upon the Prophet is His praising him among the “higher group” (the angels).
So what is meant by Allaahumma salli ‘alayhi (O Allaah send blessings upon him) is: O Allaah, praise him among the higher group, i.e., among the angels who are close to Allaah.
If someone were to say that this is unlikely from a linguistic point of view, because salaah in Arabic means supplication, not praise, the answer to that is that the word salaah is also connected to the word silah (gift), and there can be no doubt that praise for the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) among the higher group (angels) is one of the greatest gifts, for praise may sometimes be more important to a person than all else. So a good mention is a great gift.
Based on this, the correct view is that sending blessings (salaah) upon him means praise for him along the higher group (the angels).
End quote. Al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 3/163, 164 (The meaning of blessings and salaams upon the Prophet, Fatwa no. 69944)

Still others (like the above site) define Allah’s prayers as his blessings which he bestows upon his servants. This too is wrong since there is a word for blessing which the compilers of the Qur’an could have used if they meant that Allah is actually blessing and not praying, namely baraka:

And We made a people considered weak (and of no account) inheritors of lands in both east and west lands whereon We sent down our blessings (barakna). he fair promise of the Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel because they had patience and constancy and We levelled to the ground the great works and fine buildings which Pharaoh and his people erected (with such pride). S. 7:137

They said: "Dost thou wonder at Allah's decree? The mercy of Allah and His blessings on you (rahmatu Allahi wa-barakatuhu alaykum) O ye people of the house! for He is indeed worthy of all praise full of all glory!" S. 11:73

In fact, the hadiths actually distinguish between Allah’s prayer (salah) and his blessing (baraka):

The Command to say Salah upon the Prophet

Al-Bukhari said: "Abu Al-`Aliyah said: “Allah's Salah is His praising him before the angels, and the Salah of the angels is their supplication.” Ibn `Abbas said: “They send blessings.” Abu `Isa At-Tirmidhi said: “This was narrated from Sufyan Ath-Thawri and other scholars, who said: `The Salah of the Lord is mercy [sic], and the Salah of the angels is their seeking forgiveness.’” There areMutawatir Hadiths narrated from the Messenger of Allah commanding us to send blessings on him and how we should say Salah upon him. We will mention as many of them as we can, if Allah wills, and Allah is the One Whose help we seek. In his Tafsir of this Ayah, Al-Bukhari recorded that Ka`b bin `Ujrah said, “It was said, `O Messenger of Allah, with regard to sending Salam upon you, we know about this, but how about Salah?’ He said

<YOUR SALAH upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent YOUR SALAH upon the family of Ibrahim, verily You are the Most Praiseworthy, Most Glorious. O Allah, send YOUR BLESSINGS upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent YOUR BLESSINGS upon the family of Ibrahim, verily You are Most Praiseworthy, Most Glorious.’'>>” Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn Abi Layla said that Ka`b bin `Ujrah met him and said, “Shall I not give you a gift? The Messenger of Allah came out to us and we said, `O Messenger of Allah! We know how to send Salam upon you, but how can we send Salah?’ He said…

<YOUR SALAH upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent YOUR SALAH upon the family of Ibrahim, verily You are the Most Praiseworthy, Most Glorious. O Allah, send YOUR BLESSINGS upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent YOUR BLESSINGS upon the family of Ibrahim, verily You are Most Praiseworthy, Most Glorious.’'>>” This Hadith has been recorded by the Group in their books with different chains of narration. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir,
Q. 33:56)

And:

Another Hadith

Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri said: “We said, `O Messenger of Allah, this is the Salam upon you, but how do we send Salah upon you?’ He said…

<YOUR SALAH upon Muhammad, Your servant and Messenger, as You sent YOUR SALAH upon the family of Ibrahim, and send YOUR BLESSINGS upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent YOUR BLESSINGS upon the family of Ibrahim.’>>” Abu Salih narrated that Layth said…

< YOUR BLESSINGS upon the family of Ibrahim.>>Ibrahim bin Hamzah told that, Ibn Abi Hazim and Ad-Darawardi told, that Yazid, i.e., Ibn Al-Had said…

< YOUR SALAH upon Ibrahim, and send YOUR BLESSINGS upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You sent Your blessings upon Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim.>> This was also recorded by An-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah. (
*)

Once again:

Another Hadith

Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Humayd As-Sa`idi that they said: “O Messenger of Allah, how can we send Salah upon you?” He said…

< YOUR SALAH upon Muhammad and his wives and offspring, as You sent YOUR SALAH upon Ibrahim, and send YOUR BLESSINGS upon Muhammad and his wives and offspring, as You sent YOUR BLESSINGS upon the family of Ibrahim, verily You are Most Praiseworthy, Most Glorious.”>> It was also recorded by the rest of the Group, apart from At-Tirmidhi. (
*)

Finally:

Another Hadith

Muslim recorded that Abu Mas`ud Al-Ansari said: “We came to the Messenger of Allah and we were with Sa`d bin `Ubadah. Bashir bin Sa`d said to him, `Allah has commanded us to send Salah upon you, O Messenger of Allah. How can we send Salah upon you?’ The Messenger of Allah remained quiet for so long that we wished that he had not asked him, then the Messenger of Allah said…

< OUR SALAH upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent YOUR SALAH upon the family of Ibrahim, and send YOUR BLESSINGS upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent YOUR BLESSINGS upon the family of Ibrahim among all people, verily You are Most Praiseworthy, Most Glorious.’ And the Salam is as you know.>>” This was also recorded by Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'i, At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Jarir. At-Tirmidhi said, “It is Hasan Sahih.” (
*)

In the above narratives Muhammad distinguished and differentiated between the words salah and baraka, thereby demonstrating that they do not have the same meaning. As one Muslim authority noted:

Allah makes the merit of His Prophet clear by first praying blessing on Himself, and then by the prayer of the angels, and then by commanding His slaves to pray blessing and peace on him as well. Abu Bakr ibn Furak related that one of the 'ulama interpreted the words of the Prophet, "The coolness of my eye is in the prayer," as meaning Allah's prayer, that of the angels and that of his community in response to Allah's command until the Day of Rising. The prayer of angels and men is supplication for him and that of Allah is mercy.

It is said that “they pray” means they invoke blessing (baraka). However, when the Prophet taught people the prayer on himself, he made a distinction between the word salat (prayer) and baraka (blessing). We will return to the meaning of the prayer on him later. (Qadi 'Iyad Musa al-Yahsubi, Muhammad Messenger of Allah (Ash-Shifa of Qadi 'Iyad), translated by Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley
[Madinah Press, Inverness, Scotland, U.K. 1991; third reprint, paperback], Part One. Allah’s great estimation of the worth of His Prophet expressed in both word and action, Chapter One: Allah’s Praise Of Him And His Great Esteem For Him, Section 8: Concerning Allah instructing His creation to say the prayer on the Prophet, His protecting him and removing the punishment because of him, p. 25)

And:

The Prophet made a distinction between salat (prayer) and baraka (blessing) in the hadith in which he taught about making the prayer on him. This indicates that they have two separate meanings. (Ibid., Part Two. Concerning the rights which people owe the Prophet, Chapter Four: The Prayer On The Prophet And Asking Peace For Him, And The Obligation Of Doing It And Its Excellence, Section 1: The meaning of the prayer on the Prophet, p. 250)

Again:

Salama al-Kindi said: 'Ali used to teach us the prayer on the Prophet as follows: “O Allah, the One who spread out the flat expanses and created the heavens! Bestow YOUR NOBLE PRAYERS, Your increasing blessing and the compassion of Your tenderness upon Muhammad…”

'Ali also said about the prayer on the prophet in the ayat, “Allah and his angels pray on the Prophet” (33:56) “At your service and obedience, my Lord. The PRAYERS OF Allah, the good and Merciful, the near angels, the true ones, the martyrs, the salihun, and anything that glorifies You, O Lord of the worlds, be upon Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah…”
(Ibid., Section 4: Concerning the manner of doing the prayer on the Prophet and asking for peace for him, p. 257)

This next one is particularly interesting:

Ibn Mas'ud used to say, "When you bless the Prophet, then make the prayer on him excellent. You do not know; perhaps it will be shown to him. Say, ‘O Allah, bestow YOUR PRAYERS, Your MERCY and Your BLESSING on the Master of the Messengers, the Imam of the God-fearing, the Leader of the Good and the Messenger of Mercy.’" (Ibid., p. 258)

Here we see the words prayers, mercy and blessing being used together in the same sentence, conclusively proving that they do not have the same meaning.

Thus, as it stands the Islamic deity prays, worships, glorifies, and praises much like his creatures do!

Unless stated otherwise all Qur’anic quotations were taken from the Hilali-Khan version.

Related Articles

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024234.php
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/q_jesus_praying.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Menj/pbuh.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Menj/pbuh2.htm
http://inthenameofallah.org/God's%20Blessing%20and%20Peace%20be%20upon%20him.html

Endnotes

 
(1) Shockingly, Allah actually commands Muslims to glorify and praise Muhammad much like they praise him!

That you may believe in Allah and his Apostle and may aid/help him and revere him; and (that) you may declare his glory/glorify him, morning and evening. S. 48:9

The nearest antecedent to all of the pronouns is “his Apostle,” which means that Muslims are being exhorted to not only help Muhammad but also to revere and glorify him day and night! The author(s) has/have written the verse in such a way that s/he/they ended up making Muhammad the object of praise, worship and glorification!

As one late Christian writer noted:

"
This sentence is disrupted because of a sudden shift from addressing Muhammad to addressing other people. Apart from this, the accusative pronoun in ‘succour Him, and reverence Him’ refers, beyond doubt, to Muhammad, who was mentioned earlier, not to God as the English translator understood it. But ‘give Him glory’ refers to God. The entire verse is chaotic. The reader cannot be expected to understand its true meaning from the arrangement of words. It is kuffr (‘unbelief’) to say ‘succour Him, and reverence Him, and that you may give Him glory at the dawn and in the evening’ about Muhammad, since glory should be given to God alone. It is also kuffr to make such a statement with reference to God, since God almighty is not in need for succour or help!" ('Abdallah 'Abd al-Fadi, Is the Qur'an Infallible? [Light of Life, PO Box 13, A-9503 Villach, Austria], pp. 182-183)

Lest a Muslim accuse this Christian of distorting the facts here is what noted Sufi Muslim author G.F. Haddad stated regarding this specific text:
 
“That ye (mankind) may believe in Allah and His messenger, and may honor h/Him, and may revere h/Him, and may glorify h/Him at early dawn and at the close of day" (48:9). Al-Nawawi said that the scholars of Qur'anic commentary have given this verse two lines of explanation, one group giving the three personal pronouns "HIM" a single referent, namely, either Allah ("Him") OR THE PROPHET ("him"); the other group distinguishing between two referents, namely, the Prophet (SAWS) for the first two ("honor and revere him"), and Allah for the last ("glorify Him"). Those of the first group that said the pronouns ALL REFER TO THE PROPHET (SAWS) explained "glorify him" (tusabbihuhu) here to mean: "declare him devoid of inappropriate attributes and pray for him." (The Prophetic Title "Best of Creation")

Haddad tacitly concedes that the text is somewhat chaotic in its structure resulting in some (if not many) Muslims attributing all the pronouns to Muhammad!

Hence, the Islamic scripture exhorts Muslims to glorify and praise not only Allah but Muhammad as well!

Source: http://answering-islam.org/authors/shamoun/allah_worships.html

IHS

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