Great Books on 'Salat wa Salam' through-out the History of Islam!
Great Books on 'Salat wa Salam' through-out the History of Islam!
Like numerous other permissible and virtuous practices of Muslims and ‘Ahl us Sunnah wal Jamah’, Sending ‘Salat wa Salam’ {Greetings and Salutations} on the Beloved Prophet of Islam has also come under attack from the Wahhabiya-Deobandiya-Jamat al Islamiya creating many doubts in the minds of the general Muslims.
As regards to ‘Salat’ i.e. Sending ‘Durud’, there is no difference of opinion among the ‘Sunnis’ and ‘Wahhabis’ on the fundamental merits of Sending ‘Salat’ upon the Prophet, except that the Wahhabiya Oppose and Prohibit the Sunnis from Sending ‘Salat’ on the Prophet Muhammad collectively particularly after the Prayers in Masjids or at other occasions which is normally called as ‘Durud ka Dastar’ or ‘Mahfil e Durud’! Though there are numerous proofs in support of this noble practice. Insha-Allah! We shall discuss them in a separate article.
As regards to ‘Salam’, there is a major difference between the Sunnis and Wahhabis on its practice in Masjids after Prayers or after other religious occasions. They present different lame excuses and reasons to create doubts among the Muslims and debate with the Sunnis on its permissibility and practice, trying their level best to stop its practice and vehemently oppose it. This topic too has numerous evidences from the Holy Quran & Sunnah to prove its permissibility and practice. Further down the article, we shall deal with the evidences on the permissibility and immense Merits of Sending ‘Salam’ and answers to the objections raised on its practice by the opposition.
Some Books on ‘Salat wa Salam’
Like other important topics of Islam, books have also been written on ‘Salat wa Salam’ by Scholars of past. The very first book on this blessed topic was ‘Juzz Fazl Salat alan Nabi ~sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam~ by Hafiz ul Hadith Shaykh ul Islam Imam Abu Ishaq Ismail bin Ishaq al Qazi al Maliki (199-282 A.H), a contemporary of Imam Bukhari (194-256 A.H) and a student of Imam Ali bin Madini.
Other important books on the topic are:
- Shaykh Ibn Qayyim’s ‘Jila ul Ifham fi Salat was Salam ala Khayr il Anam’.
- Imam Shamsuddin Sakhawi Shafai's ‘Al Qawl ul Badiy’ fi Salat ala Habib ish Shafiy’.
- Imam Ibn Hajr Shafai’ Haythami’s ‘Ad Durr ul Manzud fi Salat wa Salam ala Sahib il Muqam il Mahmud’ and,
- Imam Yusuf bin Ismail Shafai’ Nabhani’s ‘Sa’adat ul Darayn fi Salat ala Sayyid il Kawnayn’.
These voluminous and researched books are out of the reach of common Urdu speaking Muslim masses because lack of knowledge regarding them as well as lack of interest in religious books. Sadly, even their translations are scarcely available in the market.
Some books have also been written in Urdu, but they are very concise and do-not deal with the subject in detail as the above mentioned Arabic books. Here are the names of few of the books in Urdu
- ‘Salat ul Abrar ala Nabi ul Mukhtar’ by Shaykh Abdur Rahman Hazarvi.
- ‘Salat wa Salam ka Shari’ Ahsiyat’ by Shaykh Shafi’ Okarvi.
- ‘Nida ul Akhyar bi Salat wa Salam alan Nabi al Mukhtar’ by Manazir al Ahl us Sunnah Allama Mufti Hanif Qurayshi Chishti. This book was recently compiled and contains 150 references from different authentic books on the usage of the word of ‘Khitab’ (Addressal) i.e. ‘Ya’.
There are numerous other books which have been documented in detail in ‘Mirat ut Tasanif’ by Allama Abdus Sattar Saeedi.
Was Salam,
Basharath Siddiqui Ashrafi
Ahl us Sunnah Foundation,
Hyd, India.