Understanding Salat — Page 206
Understanding S al A t 206 and his people,’ and we have asked for everything. When we say ‘as You did bless Ibrāhīm and his people,’ these words are to help us in our prayer. Hadrat Ibr ā h ī m as is referred to by Allah Almighty as an excellent model [ ٌ أُسۡوَة ٌ حَسَنَة ], and the Holy Quran has honoured him and his people by mention- ing them as examples of how the mercy of Allah Almighty has descended in the past. Through our daily recitation of the Holy Quran, these examples are always present in our minds. The mention of Hadrat Ibr ā h ī m as and his people in Dur ū d connects what we have gained from our daily recita- tion of the Holy Quran to what we pray for in Dur ū d. We do not pray that Allah Almighty limit His mercy to only be equivalent to the mercy that He showed to Hadrat Ibr ā h ī m as and his people. We are reminded of their blessings as a point of reference for how much greater the blessings of Allah Almighty will be on the Holy Prophet sas and his sas people. The Holy Prophet sas is the greatest of all proph- ets, and Allah Almighty has addressed his sas people with the words, ‘You are the best people raised for the good of mankind’ (3:111). The words ‘Ibr ā h ī m as and his people’ are a point of reference for praying for far greater blessings on ‘Muhammad sas and his people’. As mentioned in commentary of ‘and blessed is Your name’ ( وَتَبَارَك َ اسْمُكَ ) under the chapter on Than ā ’ , one approach to prayer is to mention the attribute of Allah Almighty that is relevant to the acceptance of that prayer. At times, Relevance of attributes of H amīd and Majīd