Peace be upon him

Peace be upon him (Arabic: صلى الله عليه وسلم;ﷺ; salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, also transliterated as sallalahu aleyhi wasallam) is a phrase that Muslims are required to say after mentioning the name of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Abraham and all the other prophets cited in the Holy Qur'an. It is also used by Shia Muslims after mentioning Ali ibn Abi Talib or one of the imams that followed Ali. An alternative translation is "May Allah bless him and grant him peace." In Arabic, these salutations are called salawat.

Qur'anic evidence for asking the blessings on the Prophet

Allah says in the translation of the meanings of the Holy Qur'an in Surah 33 entitled Al-Ahzab (The Confederates), ayah (verse) 56:

"Allah sends His Salah on the Prophet (Muhammad), and also His angels (do so). Oh you who believe! Send your Salah on (i.e. ask Allah to bless) him (Muhammad) and greet him with the Islamic way of greeting (i.e. as-Salaam Alaykum, which means peace be upon you)" (33:56)

The Islamic scholar, ibn Kathir, entitled the section in his Tafsir (i.e., explanation of the Holy Qur'an) regarding this verse, "The Command to say Salah upon the Prophet (Muhammad)."

This point is further founded in the saying of the Prophet Muhammad ("salla Allahu alayhi wa salaam") that, "The miser is the one in whose presence I am mentioned, then he does not send the Salah upon me." This was recorded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his Musnad.

Hadith evidence for asking the blessing on the Prophet

The evidence for sending Salah on the Prophet Muhammad is not limited to the Qur'an. It is also found in the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad. Examples include:

At-Tirmidhi recorded that Abu Hurayrah said:

"The Messenger of Allah said, May he be humiliated, the man in whose presence I am mentioned and he does not send Salah upon me; may he be humiliated, the man who sees the month of Ramadan come and go, and he is not forgiven; may he be humiliated, the man whose parents live to old age and they do not cause him to be granted admittance to Paradse."

At-Tirmidhi said that this hadith was, "Hasan gharib" (Good but only reported once).

Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan at-Tirmidhi, and Sunan an-Nasa'i, recorded that Abu Hurayrah said,

"The Messenger of Allah said, Whoever sends one salah upon me, Allah will send ten upon him."

This hadith is authentic.

Commentary regarding abbreviating the Salah on the Prophet Muhammad

Many of the Islamic Scholars have instructed Muslims not to abbreviate sending the Salah on the Prophet Muhammad. Shaykh Abd al-Azeez ibn Baaz said regarding the issue:

"As it is prescribed to send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in prayer when saying the tashahhud, and it is prescribed when giving khutbahs, saying 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 blessing in full so as to fulfil the command that Allah has given to Muslims, and so that the reader will remember to say the blessing when he reads it. So one should not write the blessing on the Prophet (peace and blessings 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):

"Send your Salaah on (ask Allah to bless) him (Muhammad), and (you should) greet (salute) him with the Islamic way of greeting (salutation, i.e. As‑Salaamu ‘Alaykum)" [ al-Ahzab (33:56) ]

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 blessings 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.

Terms used for those other than the Prophet Muhammad

For the other prophets and Islamic angels, a more abbreviated form with the same meaning, alayhi is-salaam (عليه السلام), is often used and as well Shia use it for Imams.
When mentioning sahaba, or the companions of Muhammad, radhi allahu taala anhu (for males) & radhi allahu taala anha (for females) is used.

See also

• Islam and veneration for Muhammad