'Alayhi al-Salam

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The phrase 'Alayh al-Salam in calligraphy.

ʿAlayhi al-salām (Arabic: عَلَیهِ‌السَّلام, literally: peace be upon him) is an honorific supplication, used after mentioning the names of Imams of the Shia, prophets, some Imamzadas, and some angels.

Qur'an 2:157, Qur'an 33:43, and Qur'an 6:54 have been adduced as evidence for the permissibility of sending peace to the Imams and believers, since in all of these verses peace and greeting are sent to all believers. In his instructions on how to write about Islamic disciplines, al-Shahid al-Thani recommends writing 'alayhi al-salam after mentioning the Imams (a).

Sunni Muslims write "radi Allah 'anh" (may God be pleased with him) after mentioning Imams of the Shia, as they do after mentioning the Prophet’s companions. There are cases in which Sunni Muslims use the phrase 'alayhi al-salam for Imam 'Ali (a), as opposed to other caliphs. However, Ibn al-Kathir, a student of Ibn Taymiyya, believes that it is improper to use this phrase for Imam 'Ali (a) without using it for other caliphs.

To honor women like Lady Fatima (a), Khadija (a) and Zaynab (a), Shi'as use the feminine form 'alayha al-salam or salam Allah 'alayha, and in the case of the Prophet (s), they use the phrase salla Allah 'alayh wa-alih (May God send peace upon him and his household).

The phrase 'alayhi al-salam is abbreviated as (a) and the phrase salla Allah 'alayh wa-alih is abbreviated as (s).

Uses and Similar Phrases

'Alayhi al-salam is a supplication phrase, which means "peace be upon him". It is used after mentioning the Imams (a), prophets,[1] some Imamzadas such as 'Abbas (a),[2] 'Ali al-Akbar (a),[3] and 'Ali al-Asghar (a),[4] as well as some angels such as Gabriel.[5]

When two Imams (a) or prophets are mentioned, the dual form of the phrase is used: 'alayhima al-salam (peace be upon them both),[6] and when more than two are mentioned, the plural form is used: 'alayhim al-salam (peace be upon them).[7] Other than alayhi al-salam, there are other phrases, which Shi'as use after mentioning the Imams (a), such as salam Allah 'alayh (God’s peace be upon him), salawat Allah 'alayh (God’s greetings be to him),[8] 'alayhi al-salat wa-l-salam (greeting and peace be upon him),[9] as well as more embellished phrases such as: 'alayh afdal al-salat wa-l-salam (the greatest greeting and peace be upon him) and 'alayhi alaf al-tahiyya wa-l-thana (thousands of salutations and praises be upon him).[10]

When women and girls from the Prophet’s (s) household are mentioned,[11] including Lady Fatima (a),[12] Lady Zaynab (a),[13] Lady Ma'suma (a),[14] as well as other females such as Lady Khadija (a)[15] the Prophet’s (s) wife, Lady Mary (a) the mother of Prophet Jesus (a)[16], and Asiya the wife of the Pharaoh],[17] the phrase "salam Allah 'alayha" or " 'alayha al-salam" are used. In the case of the Prophet (s), instead of 'alayhi al-salam', the phrase "salla Allah 'alayh wa-alih" is used.[18]

Sunni Muslims honor prophets[19] and some angels[20] by using 'alayhi al-salam, but in the case of Imams of the Shia (a), they use the same phrase they use for Companions: "radi Allah 'anh" (may God be pleased with him).[21] For Imam 'Ali (a), they also use the phrase "karram Allah wajhah" (may God honor his face).[22] Moreover, in Sunni books, the phrase 'alayhi al-salam is often used after mentioning Imam 'Ali (a).[23] Ibn al-Kathir, a Sunni historiographer and Quranic exegete,[24] and Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid, a Salafi scholar,[25] believe that in these cases 'alayhi al-salam was used after Imam 'Ali’s (a) name not by the authors, but by transcribers.

Sunni scholars sometimes use the phrase "salla Allah 'alayh wa-sallam" (may God greet him and send peace upon him)[26] and sometimes "salla Allah 'alayh wa-alih wa-sallam"[27] (may God greet him and his household and send peace), and they sometimes use 'alayhi al-salam after mentioning the Prophet (s).[28]

According to a manuscript of the book al-Irshad, which was transcribed in 566/1171, the phrase 'alayhi al-salam is used for the Imams (a).[29]

Rulings and Reason

In his account of the etiquette of writing Islamic disciplines, al-Shahid al-Thani, a tenth-sixteenth century Shiite jurist, recommends writing 'alayhi al-salam after mentioning the Imams (a).[30] According to Fakhr al-Muhaqqiqin, a Shiite jurist in the eighth/fourteenth century, Shiite scholars permit sending peace and greetings to all believers,[31] although he asserts that it is more polite to confine such peace and greeting to the Prophet (s) and the Imams (a) and to refrain using it for other believers.[32]

In contrast, Ibn al-Kathir, a student of Ibn Taymiyya,[33] and 'Abd al-'Aziz bin Baz, a Wahhabi mufti, believe that it is improper to use 'alayhi al-salam after mentioning Imam 'Ali (a), without using it in the case of other caliphs (as is practiced in some Sunni books).

Qur'an 9:103,[34] Qur'an 2:157, Qur'an 33:43, and Qur'an 6:54 are adduced as evidence for the permissibility of sending peace and greetings to all believers.[35] Moreover, the verse "peace be upon Al Yasin"[36] has been cited as evidence on interpretations[37] and hadiths[38] according to which Al Yasin means Muhammad’s (a) household.[39]

As for the permissibility of sending peace to the prophets, Quranic verses have been cited as evidence, in which peace is sent to all prophets[40] or to particular prophets.[41] There is, of course, a hadith in al-Saduq’s al-Amali[42] and al-Tusi’s al-Amali,[43] which recommends that when a prophet is mentioned, peace should be sent first to the Prophet of Islam (s) and then to that other prophet. In a similar hadith cited in the book Wasa'il al-Shi'a, it is recommended that peace should be sent first to Muhammad (s) and his household (a) and then to that prophet.[44] Some Shiite scholars use the phrase 'ala nabiyyina wa-alih wa-'alayhi al-salam (peace be upon our prophet and his household and to him).[45]

Abbreviated Forms

The phrases 'alayhi al-salam and salam Allah 'alayha are respectively abbreviated as (a) and (s).[46] Some scholars believe that it is a common mistake, and in fact, disrespectful, to write the abbreviated forms of these phrases.[47] To the contrary, Muhammad Kazim Kazimi, a Shiite author and poet, holds that the abbreviated form is better than repetition of the phrase in its full form, because this keeps the text succinct and uniform, and on the other hand, it reminds the reader of the author’s respect of the prophet (s) or Imam (a) in question. Kazimi believes that honoring prominent religious figures with the familiar Arabic phrases tends to turn them into platitudes.[48]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Dihkhudā, Lughatnāma, under the word 'Alayhi al-salam.
  2. ↑ See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), vol. 1, p. 185; Mudarrisī et al, Ḥaḍrat-i ʿAlī Akbar (a), p. 8.
  3. ↑ See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Guzīda-yi shahādatnāmah-yi Imām Ḥusayn (a), p. 55; Mudarrisī et al, Ḥaḍrat-i ʿAlī Akbar, p. 8.
  4. ↑ See: Zahīrī, Qiṣaṣ al-Ḥusayn (a), vol. 1, p. 181.
  5. ↑ See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), vol. 1, p. 130; Mudarrisī et al, Ḥaḍrat-i ʿAlī Akbar (a), p. 6.
  6. ↑ Anwarī, Farhang-i buzurg-i sukhan, under the word 'Alayhima al-salam.
  7. ↑ Anwarī, Farhang-i buzurg-i sukhan, under the word 'Alayhim al-salam.
  8. ↑ Nizām Aʿraj, Sharh al-nazzām, note, p. 25.
  9. ↑ Anwarī, Farhang-i buzurg-i sukhan, under the word 'Alayhi al-salat wa-l-salam.
  10. ↑ Anwarī, Farhang-i buzurg-i sukhan, under the word 'Alayhi alaf al-tahiyya wa-l-thana.
  11. ↑ Anwarī, Farhang-i buzurg-i sukhan, under the word Salam Allah 'alayha.
  12. ↑ See: Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 11, p. 88; Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), vol. 1, p. 185.
  13. ↑ See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), vol. 1, p. 166.
  14. ↑ See: Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Silsila mabāḥith-i imāmat wa mahdawīyyat, vol. 2, p. 278.
  15. ↑ See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), vol. 1, p. 223.
  16. ↑ See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a), vol. 7, p. 394.
  17. ↑ See: Ḥāshimī Rafsanjānī, Farhang-i Qurʾān, vol. 16, p. 247.
  18. ↑ Dihkhudā, Lughatnāma, under the word salla Allah 'alayh wa-alih.
  19. ↑ See: Zamakhsharī, al-kashshāf, vol. 1, p. 61, 129; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb (al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr), vol. 1, p. 136.
  20. ↑ See: Zamakhsharī, al-kashshāf, vol. 1, p. 350; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb (al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr), vol. 1, p. 83 and vol. 22, p. 171.
  21. ↑ See: Suyūṭī, al-Durr al-manthūr, p. 524;
  22. ↑ Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr, vol. 3, p. 524; Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī, al-fatāwā l-ḥadīthiyya, vol. 1, p. 41.
  23. ↑ Mūjāhid b. Jabr, Tafsīr Mūjāhid', p. 684; Thaʿlabī,' 'al-Kashf wa l-bayān ʿan tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 1, p. 136.
  24. ↑ Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm, vol. 6, p. 478.
  25. ↑ al-Munajjid, Mawqiʿ al-Islām suʾāl wa jawāb<nowiki>, vol. 9, p. 101.
  26. ↑ See: Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān ʿan tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 8, p. 116.
  27. ↑ See: Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān ʿan tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 8, p. 116.
  28. ↑ See: Zamakhsharī, al-kashshāf, vol. 1, p. 2; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb (al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr), vol. 1, p. 175.
  29. ↑ Mufīd, al-Irshād, vol. 1, p. 15.
  30. ↑ Shahīd al-Thānī, Munyat al-murīd, p. 346-347.
  31. ↑ Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn, Īḍāḥ al-fawāʾid, vol. 1, p. 528.
  32. ↑ Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn, Īḍāḥ al-fawāʾid, vol. 1, p. 528.
  33. ↑ Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm, vol. 6, p. 478.
  34. ↑ Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn, Īḍāḥ al-fawāʾid, vol. 1, p. 528.
  35. ↑ Sāniʿī, Pāsukh bih shubahāt dar shabhāy-i Pishāwar, p. 32-33.
  36. ↑ Qur'an 37:130.
  37. ↑ See: Ibn Sulaymān, Tafsīr muqātil Ibn sulaymān, vol. 3, p. 618; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 8, p. 714.
  38. ↑ Furāt al-Kūfī, Tafsīr furāt al-kūfī, p. 356; Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 472.
  39. ↑ Sāniʿī, Pāsukh bih shubahāt dar shabhāy-i Pishāwar, p. 33.
  40. ↑ Qur'an 37: 181.
  41. ↑ See: Qur'an 37: 79 and 109.
  42. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 380.
  43. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, p. 424.
  44. ↑ Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 7, p. 208.
  45. ↑ See: Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Muntakhab al-athar fī al-Imām al-thānī ʿashar, vol. 2, p. 356.
  46. ↑ See: Subḥānī Tabrīzī, Āʾīn-i wahhābiyat, p. 274; Mazāhirī, Mazhar-i ḥaqq, p. 46.
  47. ↑ Is it correct to write (s) instead of (salla Allah 'alayh wa-alih) in the writings? (Persian)
  48. ↑ The reason for using abbreviations for honoring imams. (Persian)

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