Question:

Is it permissible, forbidden or desirable to recite salawat on the Prophet (s) after hamd, upon drinking water or sneezing?

Answer:

There are three situations where the invocation of blessings on the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, is specifically “not legitimized” (ghayr mashru`) by agreement of the Schools, all three inside Salat: when bowing, when standing after bowing, and in prostration. “Even so, it is important to *not* consider this to be disliked” (much less a grave sin!) warns Imam Shams al-Din al-Qastallani (d. 923) in Masalik al-Hunafa ila Mashari` al-Salat `ala al-Nabi al-Mustafa (Ed. Bassam Muhammad Jarud, Abu Dhabi: al-Majma` al-Thaqafi, 1999, p. 416).

The most that can be said is that dislike applies only in one way: wher/never *dhikr itself* is generally disliked, such as (i) in the bath, or (ii) “answering the call of nature,” or (iii) at places of filth.

As for the narration, “Do not mention me in three situations: when naming (Allah Most High) over food, when slaughtering, and when sneezing,” it was dismissed by al-Bayhaqi, al-Sakhawi (in al-Qawl al-Badi` fil-Salat wal-Salam `alah al-Habib al-Shafi`), and Ibn al-Qayyim (in Jala’ al-Afham fi fadl al-Salat wal-Salam `ala Muhammadin Khayri al-Anam) as forged.

Furthermore, not only are the above rulings of dislike not based on firm proofs; but there are Qur’an and hadith proofs as well as fiqh positions to the opposite, namely, that it is good to invoke blessings in situations of slaughtering, sneezing, and amazement.

Following are some of the proofs which apply to the desirability of blessing the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, after drinking, most of them general and deductive, some of them precise and explicit:

– Allah Most High in His Book explicitly commanded the believers to invoke blessings and salutations on the Prophet:

{Truly, Allah (blesses the Prophet!) and the angels bless the Prophet!   All you who believe, invoke blessings on him! And invoke salutations of peace! Abundant salutations!}

There is consensus in Islam [1] that such invocation is obligatory and (more relevantly here) [2] that Allah Most High did not restrict such invocation to a quantity, modality, time, or place other than the abundance and magnification expressed in the emphatic wording of the Ayah.

As for the proofs from hadith they are too many. Suffice it to mention the following:

– Wherever there is dhikr of Allah Most High it is required of us to invoke blessings on the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, as a general rule. Saying “al-hamdu lillah” after drinking water is one such dhikr.

– In every du`a and supplication to Allah Most High it is required of us to invoke blessings on our Prophet also. this is particularly emphasized in the Shafi`i and Hanbali schools. Saying al-hamdu lillah after drinking water is one such du`a.

– It is recommended to drink water, recite shahada, and invoke blessings on the Prophet after wudu’.

– The Prophet said, upon him blessings and peace, that “Whoever does not thank people, does not thank Allah.” If a believer thanks whoever brought them water, it is even more appropriate to thank the Messenger of Allah, upon him blessings and peace, who brought them the means for that water to be, in our lives, a foresign of Divine forgiveness, not Divine wrath.

– A hadith states that the invocation of blessings on the Prophet insures that one shall drink from his Basin on the Day of resurrection. Whoever knows this, ought to remember it even more when drinking water.

– Another hadith states that the invocation of blessings on the Prophet insures one shall never be parched from lack of water here or hereafter. Whoever knows this, ought to remember it even more when drinking water.

– Another hadith mentions that the invocation of blessings on the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, Other hadiths mention that it enlivens the heart, benefits one’s children and grandchildren, brings wealth and banishes poverty by the grace of Allah Most High.

– The hadith of Thawban in Muslim mentions that the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, supplicated from Allah Most High that He spare his Ummah the hardship of drought. Look at your Prophet, he wants you and your descendants to drink your fill here and hereafter, and here we are discussing whether it is bid`a for people to bless him. It is written in the Psalms about al-Quds: May my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember you day and night.

– The Prophet said: “If this world was worth even as much as the wing of a gnat in the sight of Allah Most High, He would not have given from it a single draught of water to a disbeliever.” This means the believer is required to remember that, although water is vital, yet the gifts of Allah Most High are immeasurably greater than water. Consequently, the believer is required to invoke blessings on the Prophet, as Allah’s Mercy to the worlds is dearer than life itself and dearer than cool water on a parched tongue on a hot day.

– The invocation of blessings on the Prophet is a protection from the hardships of the Day of Reckoning. After drinking water one day the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, told those present that they shall be questioned over this blessing. A believer who knows he shall be questioned over a cup of water is required to redouble the invocations of blessings before, during, and after drinking it.

If a good action is not specifically contextualized in the Qur’an and Hadith, it does not mean that its performance in that context becomes an innovation of misguidance. There are many examples of supplications and other acts of devotion innovated by the Companions (sometimes inside Fard Salat), the Successors, and those of later generations among the early Muslims. I have mentioned 160 such examples in my Sunna Notes, volume 2, on the Sunni definition of what is bid`a and what is not.

To take a very relevant example here, the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, told us to say “al-hamdu lillah” after sneezing, but he never added for us to also invoke blessings upon him. Al-Tirmidhi narrates that a man sneezed then said: “As-Salamu `alaykum.” The Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, said: “And upon you and your mother. When one of you sneezes, let him say: ‘al-hamdu lillahi rabbi al-`alamin,‘ and let whoever answers him say: ‘yarhamuka Allah,'” etc.

Yet it is related that Ibn `Umar, may Allah be well-pleased with him, upon hearing someone sneeze and say only “al-hamdu lillah,” told him on the spot: “You have acted miserly! *Wherever you say al-hamdu lillah, why do you not also invoke blessings on the Prophet?*” Something similar is also narrated from Abu Sa`id al-Khudri and Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be well-pleased with them.

(Ponder the meaning of a pure Arab calling another pure Arab stingy. Before Islam he might have killed him for the insult; after Islam he might have thanked him all his life for the teaching.)

This is because the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, *did not prevent us from adding the blessings on him either.*

Similarly, the famous hadith of Ubay ibn Ka`b in which he said to the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace: “I shall make my entire prayer consist in blessing upon you,” and the latter more than approved him: “Indeed, your whole need shall be taken care of then.” Ubay’s statement has been explained to mean: “After my required salat and the required dhikr therein, I shall devote myself completely to salawat upon your noble person.”

Hajj Gibril Haddad