Understanding Salat — Page 184
Understanding S al A t 184 effort we have made to make all our financial sacrifices only for Allah, and then we pray that any reward of that effort descend as blessings ( ُ بَرَكَات ) on the Holy Prophet sas. These prayers are not a sacrifice; they are a pleasure that can only be felt by a person who loves the Holy Prophet sas more than he loves himself. When we say, ‘Peace be on you, O prophet,’ we speak in the second person, but that does not mean that we address the Holy Prophet sas directly. To understand the wisdom in this style of expression, we can look at how we pray for people when we visit the graveyard. When the Holy Prophet sas visited a graveyard, he prayed, Peace be upon you, O inhabitants of the grave! ( Tirmidh ī , Book 10, Chapter 59) For this reason, whenever we visit a graveyard, we also say, ‘Peace be upon you, O inhabitants of the grave!’ We say this because the remains of the people buried there remind us of them in such a way that we feel as if they are in front of us. This feeling does not mean that they are really present or that they can hear us. It is simply a natural expression of how we feel at that time and place. S al ā t is also a reminder of the Holy Prophet sas. Every word we say and every action we perform is in meticulous following of the example of the Holy Prophet sas. We strive Addressing the Holy Prophet sas directly?