Virtues of Salawat: Sending Blessings on the Prophet ﷺ
Few acts of worship are honoured the way salawat is honoured. It is something Allah Himself does, something His angels do, and something every believer is commanded to do — and for the one who does it, the reward comes back multiplied. Salawat means sending blessings and peace upon the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: asking Allah to bless him, honour him and grant him peace. It takes only a few words, yet the Quran and the authentic Sunnah surround those words with promises that no other short phrase carries. This article gathers the virtues of salawat exactly as the Quran and the authentic hadith state them, each with its reference, so that when you next send blessings upon him, you know what your words are worth.
1. Allah and His Angels Send Blessings — and the Believers Are Commanded To
Salawat begins, remarkably, not with us but with Allah and His angels:
“Surely, Allah and His angels send blessings to the Prophet. O you who believe, do pray Allah to bless him, and send your Salām (prayer for his being in peace) to him in abundance.” (Quran 33:56)
Consider what this verse is telling us. Before the believer is asked to do anything, he is told that Allah and His angels are already sending blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ. The command that follows — to bless him and to send salām to him “in abundance” — joins the believer to something far greater than himself: every time you send salawat, you are doing what Allah does and what the angels do. The verse also pairs the two halves of salawat together: blessings (ṣalāh) and peace (salām). Both are asked for him, and both, as the hadiths below show, are answered with a tenfold return.
2. The Words the Prophet ﷺ Himself Taught Us
We do not have to guess how to send blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, because he taught the wording himself — and one of his Companions treasured the teaching like a gift. Ka’b bin Ujrah met ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Laila and said, “Shall I not give you a present I got from the Prophet?” He then related that the Companions asked:
“O Allah’s Messenger! How should one (ask Allah to) send blessings on you… for Allah has taught us how to salute you (in the prayer)?”
The Prophet ﷺ answered with the words millions of Muslims now recite in every prayer:
“Say: O Allah! Send Your Mercy on Muhammad and on the family of Muhammad, as You sent Your Mercy on Abraham and on the family of Abraham, for You are the Most Praise-worthy, the Most Glorious. O Allah! Send Your Blessings on Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You sent your Blessings on Abraham and on the family of Abraham, for You are the Most Praise-worthy, the Most Glorious.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 3370 — Sahih)
In transliteration: “Allahumma Salli ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala `Ali Muhammadin, kama sal-laita ‘ala all Ibrahima innaka Hamidun Majid. Allahumma barik ‘ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala all Muhammadin, kama barakta ‘ala all Ibrahima, innaka Hamidun Majid.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 3370 — Sahih)
This is the salawat of the prayer itself: the Companions asked because Allah had already taught them how to salute him in the prayer, and the answer gave them the blessings to match. So salawat is not an extra devotion outside your Salah — its most familiar form is woven into the prayer you already perform five times a day.
3. One Salawat Sent, Ten Blessings Received
The return on salawat is stated in the plainest terms. Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“He who blesses me once, Allah would bless him ten times.” (Sahih Muslim 408 — Sahih)
One sentence from you; ten blessings from Allah upon you. There is no act so short with a return so disproportionate. And notice whose blessings they are: not the reward of an angel or a created being, but Allah’s own blessings upon the one who blesses His Prophet ﷺ. If a single salawat earns ten, the one who sends salawat throughout his day — at home, at work, on the road — is gathering blessings from Allah at a rate nothing else matches.
4. Jibril Brought the News — and the Prophet ﷺ Was Joyful
This tenfold promise did not come quietly. It arrived as glad tidings carried by Jibril (peace be upon him), and it visibly delighted the Prophet ﷺ. It was narrated from Abdullah bin Abi Talhah, from his father, that:
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came one day with a joyful expression on his face. He said: “Jibril came to me and said: ‘Will it not please you, O Muhammad, (to know) that no one of your Ummah will send salah upon you but I will send salah upon him tenfold, and no one will send salams upon you but I will send salams upon him tenfold?” (Sunan an-Nasa’i 1295 — Hasan)
Two details deserve reflection. First, the promise covers both halves of the verse of Surah Al-Ahzab: blessings are returned tenfold, and greetings of peace are returned tenfold as well. Second, this was news that made the Prophet ﷺ happy for his ummah — the joy on his face was for us, because Allah had attached such a reward to such a small act. When you send salawat, you are acting on an announcement that heaven itself delivered with pleasure.
5. The Closest People to Him on the Day of Judgement
Every believer hopes for nearness to the Prophet ﷺ in the next life. Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ named the measure of that nearness:
“The person closest to me on the Day of Judgement is the one who sent the most Salat upon me.” (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 484 — Hasan)
Not the richest, not the most famous, not the one with the longest lineage — the one who sent the most salawat upon him. The door to closeness with the Prophet ﷺ on the Day when closeness will matter most is open to every believer equally, and it is opened by the tongue and the heart, repeated often. This hadith alone explains why the righteous have always kept their tongues busy with salawat: each repetition is a step nearer to him.
6. After the Adhan: Salawat, al-Wasila, and the Promise of Intercession
One of the appointed moments for salawat comes five times a day, with the call to prayer. ‘Abdullah b. Amr b. al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah’s Messenger ﷺ as saying:
“When you hear the Mu’adhdhin, repeat what he says, then invoke a blessing on me, for everyone who invokes a blessing on me will receive ten blessings from Allah; then beg from Allah al-Wasila for me, which is a rank in Paradise fitting for only one of Allah’s servants, and I hope that I may be that one. If anyone who asks that I be given the Wasila, he will be assured of my intercession.” (Sahih Muslim 384 — Sahih)
The sequence is simple: hear the adhan, repeat its words, send a blessing upon the Prophet ﷺ — receiving ten blessings from Allah in return — and then ask Allah to grant him al-Wasila, the rank in Paradise that befits only one of Allah’s servants. The reward attached to this short routine is immense: the one who asks al-Wasila for him is assured of his intercession. Five times a day, the adhan invites you to a few seconds of remembrance that end in the Prophet’s ﷺ intercession on the Day of Judgement.
7. Friday: Increase Your Salawat, for It Is Presented to Him
One day of the week is singled out for abundant salawat. Aws ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Among the most excellent of your days is Friday; on it Adam was created, on it he died, on it the last trumpet will be blown, and on it the shout will be made, so invoke more blessings on me that day, for your blessings will be submitted to me.” (Sunan Abi Dawud 1047 — Sahih)
The Companions asked how their blessings could be submitted to him after his death, and he ﷺ replied:
“Allah, the Exalted, has prohibited the earth from consuming the bodies of Prophets.” (Sunan Abi Dawud 1047 — Sahih)
Friday is already the best of days — the day of Adam’s creation and the day the Hour’s trumpet will be blown. To that excellence the Prophet ﷺ attached a specific instruction: invoke more blessings on me that day. And he gave the reason himself: your blessings will be submitted to him. Whatever else fills your Friday, let it be a day on which your salawat multiplies — and pair it with the other Sunnahs of Jumu’ah that make the day complete.
8. Your Salām Is Answered by Him
The verse of Surah Al-Ahzab joined salām to blessings, and the greeting carries its own beautiful promise. Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“If any one of you greets me, Allah returns my soul to me and I respond to the greeting.” (Sunan Abi Dawud 2041 — Hasan)
Your greeting does not fall into silence. The Prophet ﷺ himself responds to the one who greets him. This is why the salām upon him — the salutation in the prayer, and peace sent upon him whenever he is mentioned — is not a formality but an exchange: you send peace to him, and he returns your greeting. Together with the tenfold return of blessings in the earlier hadiths, it means that nothing sent to the Prophet ﷺ goes unanswered.
9. The Loss of the One Who Stays Silent
Against all this reward stands a single warning, and it concerns the most ordinary moment of all: hearing his name mentioned. Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“May the man before whom I am mentioned – and he does not send Salat upon me – be humiliated.” (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3545 — Hasan)
The hadith places the one who withholds salawat when the Prophet ﷺ is mentioned alongside two other great losses — the man who lets Ramadan pass without being forgiven, and the man whose elderly parents were not a cause of his entering Paradise. Missed opportunities, all three. The remedy costs two seconds: when you hear his name, send salawat. A tongue that responds every time it hears “Muhammad ﷺ” will, over a lifetime, have sent more blessings than it can count — and, by the promise of Section 5, will have earned closeness to him on the Day of Judgement.
Common Questions
What are the best words of salawat? The words the Prophet ﷺ taught his Companions when they asked him how to send blessings: “O Allah! Send Your Mercy on Muhammad and on the family of Muhammad, as You sent Your Mercy on Abraham and on the family of Abraham, for You are the Most Praise-worthy, the Most Glorious…” (Sahih al-Bukhari 3370 — Sahih). These are the words recited in the prayer, and they are complete in themselves.
How many times should I send salawat? The texts attach the greatest closeness to abundance, not to a fixed count: “The person closest to me on the Day of Judgement is the one who sent the most Salat upon me.” (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 484 — Hasan) And on Friday the instruction is explicit: “so invoke more blessings on me that day” (Sunan Abi Dawud 1047 — Sahih).
Does my salawat actually reach the Prophet ﷺ? For Friday, the Prophet ﷺ stated it himself: “your blessings will be submitted to me” (Sunan Abi Dawud 1047 — Sahih). And as for the salām, he ﷺ said: “If any one of you greets me, Allah returns my soul to me and I respond to the greeting.” (Sunan Abi Dawud 2041 — Hasan)
What do I receive in return for salawat? Ten blessings from Allah for a single salawat: “He who blesses me once, Allah would bless him ten times.” (Sahih Muslim 408 — Sahih) The same tenfold return applies to your salām as well, as Jibril announced: “no one will send salams upon you but I will send salams upon him tenfold” (Sunan an-Nasa’i 1295 — Hasan).
When should I remember to send salawat? The hadiths name several moments: in the prayer itself, whose taught wording is the salawat of Bukhari 3370; after hearing the adhan, when the Prophet ﷺ instructed, “then invoke a blessing on me” (Sahih Muslim 384 — Sahih); abundantly on Friday (Abu Dawud 1047); and whenever he is mentioned (Tirmidhi 3545). Many believers also anchor salawat to their daily routines — their morning and evening azkar and the adhkar after Salah — so that no day passes without blessings sent upon him.
Conclusion
Look at what a few words carry. Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, and the believers are commanded to join them. The wording was taught by the Prophet ﷺ himself and is repeated in every prayer. Each single salawat returns as ten blessings from Allah; each salām returns tenfold too, and is answered by the Prophet ﷺ personally. On Friday your blessings are submitted to him. After every adhan, salawat followed by the dua for al-Wasila ends in the assurance of his intercession. And on the Day of Judgement, the closest person to him will simply be the one who sent the most salawat upon him. No deed so light carries promises so heavy. Make salawat the habit of your tongue — when he is mentioned, when the adhan sounds, when Friday comes, and in the quiet moments between — and you will be gathering, ten by ten, the blessings of Allah and the nearness of His Messenger ﷺ.