However, today I wish to draw attention to the way in which we should pray. These ways and modes of praying are also taught to us by the Holy Prophet(sa), which not only reform us, but also make us experience the acceptance of prayers.
According to a Hadith, which is related by Hadrat Umar bin Khattab(ra) relates, the Holy Prophet(sa) said that prayer stops in between the earth and the heavens, and unless salutations and blessings are invoked (Durud) on the Holy Prophet(sa) no portion of the prayer reaches above (to be presented to Allah). (Sunan Tirmadhi, Kitab-u -Salati, Babu ma Ja'a fi Fadlis-Salati 'alan-Nabiyyi)
This is a reality about which Allah the Exalted has also clearly explained to us in the Holy Qur'an, that is in the verse I just recited:
Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! you also should invoke blessings on him and salute him with the salutation of peace. (Surah Al-Ahzab, 33:57)
In the Holy Qur’an, numerous commandments are given to follow. Following them makes one dear to Allah, the recipient of His blessings, closer to Him, the recipient of protection from Hell and of entry into Paradise. The commandment here refers to a task, which is so tremendous and great that Allah the Exalted has engaged his angels to do the job, and He Himself also invokes blessings and salutations on His beloved Prophet(sa). This is an act by following which one would be following the task that is an act of Allah. When Allah the Exalted grants us immense rewards for abiding by His commandments, imagine the reward for following something that He Himself engages in. Most certainly, the Durud invoked with sincerity of the heart would be a source of the reformation of the ummah, a source of protecting the ummah from disgrace, a source of our own reformation, a means of acceptance of our prayers, and also a basis of our protection from the evil of the Dajjal.
In the Ahadith, the benefits of Durud are mentioned under various narrations.
In one Tradition, the Holy Prophet(sa) said:
On the Day of Judgment the person who sends the most blessings on me will be the closest to me. (Sunan Tirmadhi, Kitab-us-Salati, Babu ma Ja'a fi Fadlis-Salati ‘alan-Nabiyyi)
He(sa) also said that:
Allah will send blessings ten times on the one who once invokes Durud with the sincerity of heart. Allah will elevate his status ten-fold (and shall register ten virtues for him), and forgive his ten sins. (Sunan An-Nasa'i, Kitab-us-Sahvi, Babul-Fadli fis-Salati 'alan-Nabiyyi)
Thus, the proviso is sincerity of the heart. Many who pray or ask for prayers write that we are praying a lot, you are also praying and we also invoke blessings but a long period has gone by and our prayers are not accepted.
The Holy Prophet(sa) explained how to invoke Durud.
He said:
Send Durud, with absolute sincerity. While invoking blessings each person should scrutinize themselves, scrutinize their hearts as to how much of this world's contamination is in it and how much sincerity of the heart there is in sending the Durud.
The Promised Messiah(as) states about this:
Durud, which is a tremendous source of achieving steadfastness, invoke it abundantly. However, do not recite it customarily or habitually, rather, do it by keeping in view the splendour and favours of the Holy Prophet(sa); for the elevation of his status and station and for his triumphs. The result of this will be that you will be given the sweet and delicious fruit of the acceptance of prayer. (Review of Religions, Urdu, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 115)
So, these are the ways to invoke Durud.
He(as) further says:
O people! Invoke blessings on this benefactor Prophet(sa) who is a manifestation of the Gracious and great Benefactor God, for the recompense of favour is favour. The heart that has no appreciation of his favours either has no faith or is in pursuit to destroy the faith. O Allah! Send blessings and salutation on the un-lettered Prophet and Messenger who has satiated the latter ones, just as he satiated the earlier ones, and coloured them in his hue and linked them with pure people. (Translation from Arabic: Eijaz-ul-Masi , Ruhani Khazain, vol. 18 pp. 5-6)
If you invoked blessings in the manner that it took on a collective hue, it would be the kind of Durud that manifests its effectiveness. This Hadith and the words of the Promised Messiah(as) should clarify the matter to those who say that Durud is not effective and they should never tire of invoking blessings and salutations, rather they should self-reflect.
The Holy Prophet(sa) has said:
The one who does not invoke blessings on him is very niggardly, is a miser. Not only is he putting the sin of niggardliness on himself through his miserliness, he is also being deprived of Allah's blessings. Just as we have seen that Allah sends ten-fold blessings on the person who invokes blessings once. (Jala’ul Afham, p 318, quoted in Sunan An-Nasai)
This way of attaining God's refuge is such a bargain that the Companions of the Holy Prophet(sa) and some Companions of the Promised Messiah(as) would set aside all other prayers and would only engage in Durud.
In one Tradition, the Holy Prophet(sa) said:
It would be a matter of insolence and disloyalty if I was mentioned around a person and that person did not send blessings and salutations on me. (Jala’ul Afham, p. 327, Published in 1897, Amritsar)
Hadrat Abu Bakr(ra) said:
Invoking blessings on the Holy Prophet(sa) is of more excellence than freeing someone from the gallows, and that his companionship is more venerable than giving one's life in Allah's cause or to engage in Jihad. (Tafsir Durr-e-Manthur, quoted in Tarikh-e-Khatab and Targhib-e- Isfahani; quoted in ‘Durud Sharif', p 160)
The so-called Jihad of today which includes fighting others as well as fighting and slaughtering each other, one should ask these religious scholars as to what sort of Islam it is through which they misguide and incite the uneducated and illiterate Muslims (who then go on to carry out erroneous activities in their religious fervour and honour for Islam). The teaching of Islam is that when one hears unbefitting words about the Holy Prophet(sa), one should relate his qualities, and send blessings on him. This is more venerable than their Jihad. It is much better to focus on prayers and invoking blessings than giving one's life.
In this era, which is the era of the Promised Messiah(as), it is all the more important that rather than violence, focus is put on prayers and invoking blessings as well as to try and reform oneself. Scrutinise your inner self as to how much do we love the Holy Prophet(sa). Could it be a transitory ardour that is enveloping us in a fire on account of the selfish motives of certain groups?
It is therefore, needed that while we concentrate on reforming ourselves, if we can, we also must make the Muslims within our circle understand not to adopt wrong ways rather to adopt the way that is favoured by Allah and His Messenger(sa). That way has been explained to us and it is that the Holy Prophet(sa) has said that if you want to attain my pleasure and go to Paradise then invoke blessings on me.
Hadrat Abdullah bin Mas’ud(ra) relates that the Holy Prophet(sa) said:
The person who does not send blessings and salutations on me has no faith. (Jala’ul -Afham, quoted by Muhammad bin Hamadan Maruzi)
At another occasion he(sa) said:
Remembering Allah in abundance and sending blessings on me is a source of removing hardship. (Jala’ul-Afham, Faslul Mautinis-Sadisi wal-‘Ishruna min Mawatinis-Salati Alaihi Sallallahu alaihi wasallam Indal-ma’mil-Faqri wal-Hajati au Khaufin)
Financial hardship, circumstantial hardship, all the hardships that are befalling Muslims today are due to the fact that the West has one set of principles for themselves and another set of principles for the Muslims. The best solution for this is to invoke utmost blessings and salutations on the Holy Prophet(sa) and benefit from the blessings that Allah the Exalted has associated with Durud.
In a Tradition (a section of which was mentioned ra before) which is detailed elsewhere as well, Hadrat Anas(ra) relates that the Holy Prophet(sa) said:
On the Day of Judgment at each dreadful phase of the Day, that person will be the closest to me who would have sent the most blessings on me in the world. (Tafsir Durr-e-Manthur, quoted by Sha’bul-Imani lil-Baihaqi Tarikh Ibn-e-Asakir)
Who does not wish to have the nearness of the Holy Prophet(sa) on the Day of Judgment and go through each dangerous phase under his protection? Certainly everyone wants to be protected from Allah's Wrath, and this is the way to be saved and to retain the nearness to the Holy Prophet(sa) which he has told us about. Therefore a believer should always be focused towards invoking blessings and should take every opportunity to say Durud.
In a Tradition related by Hadrat Anas(ra) the Holy Prophet(sa) said:
The person who will send blessings and salutations on me a thousand times a day will sight his station in Paradise while in this world. (Jila’ul-Afham, quoted by Ibnul-Ghazi and Kitabus-Salati Alan-Nabiyyi li-Abi Abdillahil-Maqdasi)
The transformations brought about by the blessings of invoking Durud will make one's life on the earth heavenly. Furthermore, it is these good deeds and pious acts, which will make the present life heavenly, as well as these will make one the recipient of Paradise in the Hereafter.
A Tradition narrated by Hadrat Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As(ra) relates that he heard the Holy Prophet(sa) say:
When you hear the muedhdhin calling for prayer you should repeat his words, then send blessings on me. Allah sends ten-fold blessings on a person who invokes blessings and salutations on me. He then said, 'Seek mediation for me as this is a status from among the ranks of Paradise which will be given to one person from among Allah's servants and I have hope that it will be I. Intercession will be Ha1al for whoever will seek mediation for me.' (Sahih Muslim, Kitib-u-Salati Babustihbabil Qauli mithla Qaulil Mu'adhdhini liman sami'ahu Thumma yusalli Alan-Nabiyyi)
Each Ahmadi should learn and read the prayer said after the Adhan. The significance and benefits of sending blessings and salutations have now been clarified, however, some people also ask which kind of Durud should they say? There are different versions of Durud invoked by different people. However, there is a Hadith in this regard.
Hadrat Ka’b Ujrah(ra) narrates that we submitted:
O Prophet of Allah! We know about sending salutations on you but how do we invoke Durud on you? He replied, say:
O Allah, Bless Muhammad and the people of Muhammad as You did bless Abraham. You are indeed the Praiseworthy, the Glorious. And prosper Muhammad and the people of Muhammad as You did prosper Abraham. You are indeed the Praiseworthy, the Glorious. (Sunan Tirmadhi, Kitibu-Salati, Abwabul Witri, Babu ma ja'a fi Sifati-Salati Alan-Nabiyyi Sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
So this is Durud. The Durud we say in Salat is a little more detailed. The Promised Messiah(as) counsels someone in a letter regarding this matter and writes:
Keep engaged in Tahajjud Prayer and commonly repeated prayers. There are many blessings in Tahajjud. Idleness is worthless. An idle and laid back [person] carries no weight. God Almighty says: 1
The preferred Durud is, which was uttered by the blessed toungue of the Holy Prophet(sa) and that is 2
He said:
The words said by a pious person certainly have a lot of blessings in them. It should, therefore, be understood how blessed would be the words uttered by one who is the chief of the righteous and the commander of the Prophets. In short, from all the versions of Durud this one is the most blessed one.
There are different versions of Durud and this is the most blessed one.
This is the chant of this humble person and it is not important to restrict it to any amount. [It] should be recited with sincerity, love and humility and should be recited until such time that one develops a state of tender-heartedness, is entranced and inspired, feels deep conviction, and discernment in the breast. (Maktubat-e-Ahmadiyya, Vol. 1, pp. 17-18)
This is the Durud that we say in the Salat, and as I said this should be mostly recited. The Promised Messiah(as) has said not to focus on how many times it is said.
It is mentioned in a Hadith that reciting it a thousand times signifies the maximum one recites. Yet, the Promised Messiah(as) also suggested a specific number to some people; to say it seven hundred times daily to some or eleven hundred times to others. This advice is specific to individuals according to their situation and standard, which keeps on changing. In any case we should invoke Durud and this is the reason why in the prayers for the [Khilafat] Jubilee I had asked you to recite daily the revealed prayer of the Promised Messiah(as).3
Besides this, I had said that Durud should be recited in its entirety. The reason for this was that we should definitely include the authentic Durud that was taught by the Holy Prophet(sa) in our prayers. However, the fact remains, as the Promised Messiah(as) said, that it should be recited with such profundity that it brings on a unique state of mind and when this happens you will be the recipients of the blessings of Allah the Exalted.
1 And as for those who strive in Our Path — We will surely guide them in Our ways. (Surah Al-Ankabut, 29:70)
2 O Allah, Bless Muhammad and the people of Muhammad as You did bless Abraham and the people of Abraham. You are indeed the Praiseworthy, the Glorious.
O Allah, Prosper Muhammad and the people of Muhammad as You did prosper Abraham and the people of Abraham. You are indeed the Praiseworthy, the Glorious.
3 Holy is Allah and His is the praise, Holy is Allah, the Most Great. Bless O Allah, Muhammad and the people of Muhammad.