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And my ṣalawāt shower down like rain,
Never ending, fully quenching.
I personally serve him who recites them,
Like a mother concerned with her child.
The virtue and exalted rank of sending ṣalawāt upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ are well known. It would be sufficient for us to consider the words of Allah Most High:
Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, send blessings upon him and greet him with peace.
Qurʾān 33:56
The Prophet ﷺ himself gave his Umma glad tidings concerning the immense reward contained in sending ṣalawāt upon him.
It is narrated that the Companions said:
O Messenger of Allah, today you are in good spirits, and joy can be seen upon your face.
The Prophet ﷺ replied:
Yes. A visitor came to me from my Lord and said: 'Whoever from your Umma sends one ṣalāt upon you, Allah records ten good deeds for him, erases ten of his sins, raises him ten degrees, and returns to him a ṣalāt from Allah corresponding to his ṣalāt.'
Aḥmad and al-Nasāʾī
The encouragements concerning ṣalawāt, however, are not limited to these narrations. The books of ḥadīth contain many traditions, while the scholars and people of spiritual realisation have likewise spoken at length about its virtue, its benefits, and its place in the purification of the heart.
For this reason, generations of the righteous devoted themselves to composing and compiling collections of ṣalawāt upon the Beloved ﷺ. Among the most renowned of these is Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt, compiled by Imām Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Jazūlī رحمه الله.
Among these great collections is the work of our master and Shaykh, Sayyidī Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī رحمه الله: Al-Ṣalawāt al-Jaʿfariyya fī al-Ṣalāti ʿalā Khayri al-Bariyya — The Jaʿfarī Ṣalawāt upon the Best of Creation.
Like the collection of Imām al-Jazūlī, the ṣalawāt of Shaykh Ṣāliḥ are arranged into seven sections, corresponding to the seven days of the week. They provide the seeker with a daily practice of sending blessings upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and of keeping the heart connected to him through abundant remembrance and love.
The Universal Ijāza
Although sending ṣalawāt upon the Prophet ﷺ does not ordinarily require a specific ijāza or permission, those travelling the spiritual path recognise the particular blessing and baraka associated with receiving permission from a spiritual teacher.
Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī رحمه الله relates a remarkable account concerning the ijāza he received for the ṣalawāt.
He says:
And he ﷺ had already given me a general ijāza for all the ṣalawāt. And that is what I saw in my dream: I was sending ṣalāt upon the Prophet ﷺ with ṣalawāt other than those of our Idrīsī ṭarīqa. When I began with the ʿAẓīmiyya of Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Idrīs, he ﷺ appeared to me sitting upon a chair.
I stood, kissed his noble hand, and said:
'Shall I send ṣalāt upon you, O Messenger of Allah, with this formula?'
He ﷺ said: 'With it and with other than it.' And he indicated with his noble head from top to bottom and from bottom to top.
Shaykh Ṣāliḥ then extended this permission to the believers, saying:
And I give ijāza to all the brothers from the Idrīsī ṭarīqa and from others, from the East to the West of the world, in this Ṣalāt ʿAẓīmiyya, in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave me ijāza.
And likewise I give them ijāza in the First Ṣalāt, which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ heard from me. And likewise I give them ijāza in the rest of the ṣalawāt, for which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave me ijāza when he said: 'With it and with other than it.' And I make my sanad in that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
He concludes with words expressing his profound hope for those who turn to these prayers with sincerity:
And I have great hope that everyone who hears these words of mine, and turns with his heart and body toward these ṣalawāt, and recites them regularly with love and belief, will see him ﷺ in sleep and in the waking. And nothing stands between me and the doubters except trying.
This universal ijāza is among the remarkable legacies of Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī, through which he encouraged believers across the world to increase their ṣalawāt upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The Words of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Jaʿfarī
As for the collection of ṣalawāt composed by Shaykh Ṣāliḥ, his son and inheritor, the radiant Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Jaʿfarī رحمه الله, offered the following counsel:
Therefore adopt them, O murīd, and reflect upon their meanings and secrets; inhale their scent and aroma, and enter into the realm of their sanctity and lights. Indeed, Allah the Exalted has made for you, through them, an opening from every deprivation and a way out from every worry.
And by reading them, by the permission of Allah the Exalted, the reader finds relief from difficulties, forgiveness for sins, an increase in reward, and elevation to the highest ranks.
These words capture something of the spirit in which the Jaʿfarī ṣalawāt are intended to be approached: not merely as words to be recited, but as a means of cultivating love, reverence, remembrance, and connection to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The seeker is encouraged to reflect upon their meanings, to recite them consistently, and to approach them with sincerity and love.
The Reward of Abundant Ṣalawāt
We conclude with one of the most beautiful narrations concerning abundant ṣalawāt upon the Beloved ﷺ.
Ubayy ibn Kaʿb رضي الله عنه said:
I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I send a great deal of blessings upon you. How much of my duʿāʾ should I devote to sending blessings upon you?'
He said: 'Whatever you wish.'
I said: 'One quarter?'
He said: 'Whatever you wish, and if you do more, that will be better.'
I said: 'One half?'
He said: 'Whatever you wish, and if you do more, that will be better.'
I said: 'Two thirds?'
He said: 'Whatever you wish, and if you do more, that will be better.'
I said: 'I will make all of my duʿāʾ for you.'
He said: 'Then your concerns will be taken care of and your sins will be forgiven.'
May Allah Most High fill our hearts with love for His Beloved ﷺ, grant us abundance in sending ṣalawāt upon him, and allow us to benefit from the blessings and lights contained therein.
Āmīn.
The Jaʿfarī Ṣalawāt
Physical copies of Al-Ṣalawāt al-Jaʿfariyya are available through Light of the Azhar Publications.
The Arabic edition may also be read and downloaded here:
Footnotes
- [i] https://www.meccabooks.com/1029-sending-prayers-upon-the-prophet-9789079294206.html
- [ii] https://strayreflections.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/the-ijaza-of-shaykh-saleh-al-jafari-ra/
- [iii] Miftāḥ al-Dukhūl li-Ṭarīqa al-Jaʿfarīyya pgs. 59-60.