Question:

Answer:

When a person enters Islam, there are many questions that arise in one's head and this can lead a person into doubt. Thus it is very good that you have, instead of letting this thought fester in your head, asked concerning it. There are two issues that need to be dealt with.

Firstly, what you have written, saying that the Prayer which is a pure act of Allah's worship is somehow turned to the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam). This is not so, as when we recite the verses and these supplications in Prayer the believer, always imagines that he is standing before his Creator and through standing, bowing and prostrating etc. he is showing submission to Him alone. The mention of the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) there, like the mention of the pious servants(saaliheen), as well as ourselves later on, is only a supplcation (Dua) to Allah taala to bestow peace etc. upon them, thus we have a very important kind of act worship (Dua) within another act of worship (Salah). As for the usage of "O Prophet" (Yaa ayyuhanabiyyu), in many languages the Vocative, a mode of showing love and affection, (O/Yaa) is used because the person mentioned is imagined present, like when a person writes a letter and writes: "O Zayd you have not visited us in a long time...."

The second point to be clarified is that it seems this part of the prayer could not have been taught by the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) because he had not yet passed away. The answer to this is, what is there to prevent the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) teaching it like this, keeping in view our above explanation and especially in view that when he was teaching this supplication, it was known that this was to be the standard prayer till the Day of Judgement? It should also be noted that this part of the Prayer has been rigrously authenticated and is found in many books of hadith including Sahih Muslim, Hadith no.902. Also see Fath al-Mulhim, vol.3, p.419-420.

Mufti Mohammed Sajjad

Wallahu Aalam bis-sawab

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The answer to this question is the opinion of the scholar and does not reflect the opinion of other scholars of As-Suffa Institute and As-Suffa Institute as an organisation.