Islamic honorifics
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Islam uses a number of conventionally complimentary phrases praising
Applied to God
After mentioning one of the names of God, such as Allah, an expression of worship is used as opposed to the phrases of supplication used for regular individuals. These include:
| Arabic Transliteration |
Meaning | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ | Glorified and Exalted | (swt), (s.w.t.) |
| subḥānahu wa-taʿālā | subhanah wataeala | sbnh wtela |
| تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَىٰ | Blessed and Exalted | (twt), (t.w.t.) |
| tabāraka wa-taʿālā | tabarak wataeala | tbark wtala |
| عَزَّ وَجَلَّ | Prestigious and Majestic | (azwj), (a.z.w.j.) |
| ʿazza wa-jalla | az wajal | az wjl |
Applied to Muhammad and his family
| Arabic Transliteration Meaning |
Usage | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ | This expression follows after naming Imams in Shia Islam . |
(as), (a.s.) |
| ʿalayhi as-salāmu | ||
| Peace be upon him | ||
| عَلَيْهِ ٱلصَّلَاةُ وَٱلسَّلَامُ | This expression follows after naming prophets and messengers, companions in Sunni Islam, Imams in Shia Islam. | (asws), (a.s.w.s.), (pbbuh), (p.b.b.u.h.) |
| ʿalayhi aṣ-ṣalātu wa-as-salāmu | ||
| Blessings and peace be upon him | ||
| سَلَامُ ٱللَّٰهِ عَلَيْهِ | This expression follows after naming Imams in Shia Islam or angels. The feminine version (سَلَامُ ٱللَّٰهِ عَلَيْهَا) is commonly used for historical Islamic women (e.g. , etc.). | (sa), (s.a.) |
| salāmu -llāhi ʿalayhī | ||
| Peace of God be upon him | ||
| صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ | This expression follows specifically after uttering the name of Muhammad, although "peace be upon him" may be used instead. | (saw), (s.a.w.), (sa), (s.a.), (sm) (as a single character in Arabic Unicode ﷺ) |
| ṣallā -llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama | ||
| Blessings of God be upon him as well as peace | ||
| صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ | This expression follows specifically after uttering the name of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It is used by all Muslims. | (saww), (s.a.w.w.), (saws), (s.a.w.s.), (saw), (s.a.w.), (sa), (s.a.), (pbuh), (p.b.u.h) |
| ṣallā -llāhu ʿalayhi wa-ʾālihī wa-sallama | ||
| Blessings of God be upon him and his progeny and grant him peace | ||
| صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ | This expression follows specifically after uttering the name of Muhammad. It is more commonly used by Shia Muslims. | (sawa), (s.a.w.a.), (saww), (s.a.w.w.), (sa), (s.a.) |
| ṣallā -llāhu ʿalayhi wa-ʾālihī | ||
| Blessings of God be upon him and his progeny | ||
| رَحِمَهُ ٱللَّٰهُ | This expression is used when mentioning historic and contemporary Muslims. | (ra), (r.a.), (r.h)(rah), (r.a.h.), (raa), (r.a.a.) |
| raḥimahu -llāhu | ||
| God have mercy on him | ||
| رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ | This expression is used when mentioning the companions of Muhammad but sometimes used with other religious persons,[1] the feminine version رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهَا. | (ra), (r.a.) |
| raḍiya -llāhu ʿanhū | ||
| God be pleased with him | ||
| رِضْوانُ اللهُ تَعالیٰ عَلَیهِ | This expression is used when mentioning important religious persons who passed away. It is used by Shia muslims.[2] | (ra), (r.a.) |
| riḍwanu -llāhu ta'ala 'alayhī | ||
| God Almighty be pleased with him |
In the above,
Usually, ṣallā or "blessings" is used exclusively for Muhammad to distinguish between him and other prophets (and Imams in Shia Islam), but theoretically, it is used for all prophets equally.
Scriptural and hadith basis for prayers upon Muhammad
Qur'ān
The honorifics for Muhammad are enjoined by Surat
إِنَّ ٱللّٰهَ وَمَلَـٰٓىِٕكَتَهُۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ ۚ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ صَلُّوا۟ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا۟ تَسْلِيمًا
"Surely Allah (God) and His angels bless the Prophet; O you who believe! Send blessings on him and salute him with a (becoming) salutation."
[Quran 33:56 (Translated by Shakir)]
Hadith
In
Ahmad ibn Hanbal reported in his Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal that the Companion of Muhammad, Abu Talha ibn Thabit, said:
One morning the Messenger of Allah was in a cheerful mood and looked happy. They said, "O Messenger of Allah, this morning you are in a cheerful mood and look happy." He said, "Of course, just now someone [an angel] came to me from my Lord [Allah] and said, 'Whoever among your Ummah sends Salaam upon you, Allah will record for him ten good deeds and will erase for him ten evil deeds, and will raise his status by ten degrees, and will return his greeting with something similar to it.'"
Al-Bayhaqi reports that Abu Hurairah said that Muhammad said, "Send the Salaam on Allah's messengers and prophets for Allah sent them as He sent me."
This point is further founded in the saying by Muhammad, "The miser is the one in whose presence I am mentioned, then he does not send the Salam upon me." This was recorded in Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
Anas bin Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: 'Whoever sends salah upon me once, Allah (SWT) will send salah upon him tenfold, and will erase ten sins from him, and will raise him ten degrees in status.'"
Salafi ruling on abbreviating prayers upon Muhammad
Scholars of the
As it is prescribed to send prayers upon the Prophet (peace and prayers of Allah be upon him) in prayer when saying the
Du'a and praying for forgiveness, and after the Adhan, and when entering and exiting the mosque, and when mentioning him in other circumstances, so it is more important to do so when writing his name in a book, letter, article and so on. So it is prescribed to write the prayers in full so as to fulfil the command that Allah has given to Muslims, and so that the reader will remember to say the prayers when he reads it. So one should not write the prayers on the Prophet (peace and prayers of Allah be upon him) in short form such as writing (S) or (SAWS) etc, or other forms that some writers use, because that is going against the command of Allah in His Book, where He says (interpretation of the meaning):صَلُّوا۟ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا۟ تَسْلِيمًا
Send blessings on him and salute him with a (becoming) salutation."[Quran 33:56 (Translated by Shakir)]
And that (writing it in abbreviated form) does not serve that purpose and is devoid of the virtue of writing "salla Allaahu 'alayhi wa salaam (May Allah send prayers and peace upon him)" in full. Moreover the reader may not take notice of it and may not understand what is meant by it. It should also be noted that the symbol used for it is regarded as disapproved by the scholars, who warned against it.[citation needed][year needed]
Applied to angels and prophets
Some honorifics apply to the archangels (Jibril, Mikhail, etc.) as well as any other Islamic prophets preceding Muhammad (Isa as, Musa as, Ibrahim as etc.). A group of modern scholars from Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Yemen, and Mauritania has issued fatwa that the angels should be invoked with blessing of alaihissalam, which also applied to human prophets and messengers.[4] This fatwa was based on the ruling from Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya.[4]
- 'Alay-hi 's-salām (Arabic: عليه السلام)
- Translation: "Peace be upon him"
- Abbreviation: "AS"[5]
- Alaihissalatu Wassalam
- Translation: "On him are the blessings and the peace of Allah"
- Abbreviation: "ASW"
Applied to companions of Muhammad
Some honorifics are used after
- Raḍiya 'llāhu 'an-hu (Arabic: رضي الله عنه)
- Translation: "May Allāh be pleased with him"
- Abbreviation: "RA"
- Example: "Uthman Ibn Affan (Raḍiya 'llāhu 'an-hu) ..."
- Raḍiya 'llāhu 'an-hā (Arabic: رضي الله عنها)
- Translation: "May Allāh be pleased with her"
- Example: "Khadījah (Raḍiya 'llāhu 'an-hā) ..."
- Raḍiya 'llāhu 'an-huma (Arabic: رضي الله عنهما)
- Translation: "May Allāh be pleased with both of them"
- Example: "Umar and Abu Bakr (Raḍiya 'llāhu 'an-huma) ..."[6]
- Raḍiya 'llāhu 'an-hum (Arabic: رضي الله عنهم)
- Translation: "May Allāh be pleased with them"
- Example: "aṣ-Ṣaḥābah (Raḍiya 'llāhu 'an-hum) ..."
Applied to enemies of Muhammad
Some honorifics are not used in the sense of "honoring" a person, and are instead used after the mention of the enemies (
- La'anatu 'llahi 'alay-hi (Arabic: لعنة الله عليه)
- Translation: "May the curse of Allāh be upon him"
- Example: "Abū Lahab(La'anatu 'llahi 'alay-hi)..."
Applied to scholars
Some honorifics apply to highly revered scholars and people thought to be of high spiritual rank who have died:
- Raḥmatu 'llāhi 'alay-hi (Arabic: رَحِمَهُ الله)
- Abbreviation: "RH"
- Translation: "May Allah's mercy/ blessing be upon him"
- Example: "Al Suyuti (Raḥmatu 'llāhi 'alay-hi) ..."
- Raḥmatu 'llāhi 'alay-ha (Arabic: رَحِمَها الله)
- Translation: "May Allah's mercy/ blessing be upon her"
- Example: "Fatima al-Fihri (Raḥmatu 'llāhi 'alay-ha) ..."
- Raḥmatu 'llāhi 'alay-him (Arabic: رَحْمَةُ الله عليهم)
- Translation: "May Allah's mercy/ blessing be upon them"
- Riḍwanu 'llāhu ta'ala 'alayhi (Arabic: رضوان الله تعالی علیه)
- Translation: "God Almighty be pleased with him"
- Abbreviation: "RA"
- Example: "Morteza Ansari-ye Dezfoli (Riḍwanu 'llāhu ta'ala 'alay-hī) ... "
If a revered scholar is still alive, the following is custom:
- Ḥafiḏahu 'llāh (Arabic: حفظه الله)
- Abbreviation: "HA"
- Translation: "May Allah preserve him"
- Faraja 'llāhu 'anhu (Arabic: فرج الله عنه)
- Abbreviation: "FA"
- Translation: "May Allah grant him relief"
Unicode
| Unicode | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTF-8 Encoding | Symbol | Unicode Name | Transcription | Arabic | English |
ؑ
|
ؑ | Arabic sign ALAYHE ASSALLAM | ʿalayhi s-salām | عليه السلام | peace be upon him |
ؒ
|
ؒ | Arabic sign RAHMATULLAH ALAYHE | raḥmatu Llāhi ʿalayh | رحمة الله عليه | God have mercy upon him |
ؓ
|
ؓ | Arabic sign RADI ALLAHOU ANHU | raḍī Llāhu ʿanh | رضي الله عنه | God be pleased with him |
See also
- Subhanahu wa ta'ala
- Salawat
References
- ^ "هل يقال رضي الله عنه لغير الصحابة - إسلام ويب - مركز الفتوى".
- ^ "رضوان - ویکی شیعه".
- ^ "The Book of Forgetfulness (In Prayer) (55) Chapter: The virtue of sending salah upon the Prophet (SAW)". sunnah.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-02.
- ^ a b Abdullaah Al-Faqeeh (2003). "Saying 'Peace be upon him' to Angel Gabriel". Islamweb.net. Fatwa center of Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Yemen, and Mauritania Islamic educational institues. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "Islamic Terminology". islamic-dictionary. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ^ "Radi Allahu Anhu in Arabic, Meaning". Retrieved February 4, 2023.