Fazaaile-Durood: Contents Page
CHAPTER FIVE: STORIES PERTAINING TO CONFERRING
BLESSINGS AND SALUTATIONS
After discussing the order of
Allāh to confer blessings and salutations
and the ḥadīths of the Noble Prophets e, stories are not of much
significance. However, people tend to be more encouraged by the stories of the
pious elders. Thus, it has also remained the practice of the elders to mention
relevant stories. Shaykh Thānawī (may Allāh have mercy on him) has dedicated a whole chapter
to stories in Zād al-Saʿīd, which I am relating exactly
in this book too. Thereafter, I shall narrate other stories, and many stories have been narrated in the Virtues of Ḥajj, authored by this humble servant.
1. It is narrated in al-Mawāhib
al-Ladunniyya from Tafsīr al-Qushayrī that on the Day of
Judgement, the good deeds of a certain believer will weigh less in the Scales.
The Messenger of Allāh e will take out
a parchment the size of a fingertip and place it in the pan of good deeds,
causing it to outweigh the bad deeds of this believer. The believer will
exclaim, “May my parents be sacrificed for your sake. Who are you? How
beautiful you are in countenance and in character!”
The Noble Prophet e will reply,
“I am your prophet and this is your conferring of blessings and salutations
upon me. I have repaid it in this time of need.”
(Footnotes of Al-Ḥiṣn al-ḥaṣīn. This story
has previously been mentioned with more discussion in Chapter One under the eleventh ḥadīth)
2. ʿUmar bin ʿAbdul ʿAzīz (may
Allāh have mercy on him) was a prominent Follower (tābiʿī) and a rightly-guided caliph. He would send a special messenger
from
3. It is related in Rawḍa al-Aḥbāb that
Imām Ismaʿīl bin Ibrāhīm Muzanī (may Allāh have mercy on him),
one of the prominent students of Imām Shafiʿī (may
Allāh have mercy on him) said, “I saw Imām Shafiʿī (may
Allāh have mercy on him) in my dream after he had passed away. I
asked him, ‘How did Allāh treat you?’
He replied, ‘Allāh pardoned me and ordered that I be taken to
I asked, ‘What was it?’
Imām Shafiʿī (may Allāh have mercy on him) said:
اللهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ كُلَّمَا ذَكَرَهُ الذَّاكِرُوْنَ وَكُلَّمَا غَفَلَ عَنْ ذِكْرِهِ الْغَافِلُوْنَ
O Allāh, confer blessings upon Muḥammad e whenever those engaged
in his remembrance remember him and whenever those who are negligent of his
remembrance are in their neglect. (Footnotes of Al-Ḥiṣn
al-ḥaṣīn)
4. It is related in Manāhij al-Ḥasanāt from
Ibn Fākihāni’s (may
Allāh have mercy on him) Al-Fajr al-Munīr, “There was a
saint called Musā Ḍarīr (may
Allāh have mercy on him) who related his personal experience to me.
He said, ‘I was travelling in a boat which began to sink. Suddenly, I was overcome
by drowsiness and in this state, I saw the Messenger
of Allāh e. He taught me these blessings
and then instructed that all aboard the boat should confer them one thousand
times. We barely recited it three hundred times that the boat was saved from
sinking.’”
The ṣalāt is as follows:
اللهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَوةً تُنْجِيْنَا بِهَا مِنْ جَمِيْعِ الأَهَوَالِ وَالآفَاتِ وَتَقْضِيْ لَنَا بِهَا جَمِيْعَ الْحَاجَاتِ وَتُطَهِّرُنَا بِهَا مِنْ جَمِيْعِ السَّيِّئَاتِ وَتَرْفَعُنَا بِهَا أَعْلَى الدَّرَجَاتِ وَتُبَلِّغُنَا بِهَا أَقْصَى الْغَايَاتِ مِنْ جَمِيْعِ الْخَيْرَاتِ فِيْ الْحَيَوةِ وَبَعْدَ الْمَمَاتِ
It is also desirable to add the following words at the end:
إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيْرٌ
O Allāh, confer blessings upon our leader Muḥammad
e, blessings
whereby You will save us from all worries and calamities, whereby You will
fulfil all our needs, purify us from all sins, raise our ranks to the most
lofty of stations, convey us to the furthest heights in all acts of goodness in
this life and the Hereafter. (Verily you have power over everything).
The author of Al-Qāmūs, Shaykh Majduddīn (may Allāh have mercy on him),
has also narrated this story through his own chain of narration.
5. It is related in some books that ʿUbaydullāh
bin ʿUmar Qawārīrī (may Allāh have mercy on him)
said, “A neighbour of mine, who was a scribe, passed away. I saw him in a dream
and asked him how Allāh had treated him. He told me that Allāh had
pardoned him. I asked him the reason thereto. He said, ‘It was my habit that
whenever I wrote the blessed name of the Messenger of Allāh e, I would add (e). Allāh
granted me bounties that no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard and the
thought of which has never crossed the mind of any person.’” (Gulshane Jannat)
6. The incident which inspired the author of Dalā’il
al-Khayrāt to write his book is famous. The author was in need of
water for ablution whilst traveling but was perturbed
as he had no rope or bucket [to draw water with from the well]. A girl who was
observing all this came and inquired of the Shaykh and then spat in the well.
As a result, the water brimmed to the top of the well. The author was shocked
upon seeing this and asked how she had done this. The girl replied that this
was the blessing of conferring blessings and salutations. The Shaykh then compiled Dalā’il
al-Khayrāt.
7. Shaykh Zarrūq (may
Allāh have mercy on him) writes that the grave of the author of Dalā’il al-Khayrāt emanates with the
fragrance of amber and musk and this is all due to the conferring of blessings
and salutations.
8. A reliable friend of mine informed me regarding a scribe of
9. The son-in-law of Mawlānā Fayḍ al-Ḥasan
Saharanpuri (may Allāh have mercy
on him) narrated to me that the house wherein the respected
Mawlānā passed away emanated with fragrance for one month after his
demise. This was related to Mawlānā Qāsim Nānawtwī (may Allāh have mercy on him) who
said, “This is due to the blessings of conferring blessings and salutations. The Mawlānā
would stay awake on the night of Friday and confer blessings and salutations
upon the Noble Prophet e.”
10. Abū Zurʿa (may
Allāh have mercy on him) saw a person in his dream who was
performing prayer with the angels in the heavens. He asked him how he achieved
this status. He replied, “I have written one million ḥadīths.
Whenever I came across the blessed name of the Prophet e, I would write blessings.
I achieved this status through this action.”
This
story has been narrated likewise in Zād
al-Saʿīd. This humble servant thinks that the scribe has made a
mistake in writing this story and that the correct account is that a person saw
Abū Zurʿa (may Allāh
have mercy on him) in a dream, as will be mentioned in story
twenty-nine.
11. Another
story regarding Imām Shafiʿī (may Allāh have mercy on him) is that someone saw him in a
dream after his demise and asked him how he was forgiven. Imām Shafiʿī
(may Allāh have mercy on him)
replied, “I used to confer the following five blessings on the night of Friday:
اللهُمَّ صَلِّ
عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ بِعَدَدِ مَنْ
صَلَّى عَلَيْهِ وَصَلِّ عَلَى
مُحَمَّدٍ بِعَدَدِ مَنْ
لَمْ يُصَلِّ عَلَيْهِ وَصَلِّ عَلَى
مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا
أَمَرْتَ بِالصَّلَوةِ عَلَيْهِ وَصَلِّ عَلَى
مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا
تُحِبُّ أَنْ
يُّصَلَّى عَلَيْهِ وَصَلِّ عَلَى
مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا
يَنْبَغِيْ أَنْ
يُّصَلَّى عَلَيْهِ
O Allāh, confer blessings upon Muḥammad e as the number of people who confer blessings upon him. Confer
as many blessings upon Muḥammad e as the number of people
who fail to confer blessings upon him. Confer blessings upon Muḥammad
e as You
have ordained that blessings should be conferred upon him. Confer blessings
upon Muḥammad as You like that blessings should
be conferred upon him. Confer blessings upon him as is the
right of blessings to be conferred upon him.
These are referred to as the Five
Blessings (al-ṣalawāt al-khamsa).
(Other stories regarding Imām Shafiʿī
(may Allāh have mercy on him)
will be discussed under the thirtieth story).
12. Shaykh Ibn Ḥajar Makkī (may Allāh have mercy on him)
narrates that a person saw a righteous man in his dream and asked him how he was.
He said, “Allāh had mercy on me, forgave me and entered me into