'Alayhi al-Salam: Difference between revisions

'''ʿAlayh al-salām''' (Arabic: {{ia|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 'alayh 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 'alayh al-salam for [[Imam 'Ali (a)]], as opposed to other [[caliph]]s. 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.

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

'Alayh al-salam is a supplication phrase, which means "peace be upon him". It is used after mentioning the [[Imams (a)]], [[prophets]],<ref>Dihkhudā, ''Lughatnāma'', under the word 'Alayh al-salam.</ref> some [[Imamzadas]] such as [['Abbas (a)]],<ref>See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, ''Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a)'', vol. 1, p. 185; Mudarrisī et al, ''Ḥaḍrat-i ʿAlī Akbar (a)'', p. 8.</ref> [['Ali al-Akbar (a)]],<ref>See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, ''Guzīda-yi shahādatnāmah-yi Imām Ḥusayn (a)'', p. 55; Mudarrisī et al, ''Ḥaḍrat-i ʿAlī Akbar'', p. 8.</ref> and [['Ali al-Asghar (a)]],<ref>See: Zahīrī, ''Qiṣaṣ al-Ḥusayn (a)'', vol. 1, p. 181.</ref> as well as some [[angels]] such as [[Gabriel]].<ref>See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, ''Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a)'', vol. 1, p. 130; Mudarrisī et al, ''Ḥaḍrat-i ʿAlī Akbar (a)'', p. 6.</ref>

When two Imams (a) or prophets are mentioned, the dual form of the phrase is used: 'alayhima al-salam (peace be upon them both),<ref>Anwarī, ''Farhang-i buzurg-i sukhan'', under the word 'Alayhima al-salam.</ref> and when more than two are mentioned, the plural form is used: 'alayhim al-salam (peace be upon them).<ref>Anwarī, ''Farhang-i buzurg-i sukhan'', under the word 'Alayhim al-salam.</ref> Other than alayh 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),<ref>Nizām Aʿraj, ''Sharh al-nazzām'', note, p. 25.</ref> 'alayh al-salat wa-l-salam (greeting and peace be upon him),<ref>Anwarī, ''Farhang-i buzurg-i sukhan'', under the word 'Alayh al-salat wa-l-salam.</ref> as well as more embellished phrases such as: 'alayh afdal al-salat wa-l-salam (the greatest greeting and peace be upon him) and 'alayh alaf al-tahiyya wa-l-thana (thousands of salutations and praises be upon him).<ref>Anwarī, ''Farhang-i buzurg-i sukhan'', under the word 'Alayh alaf al-tahiyya wa-l-thana.</ref>

When women and girls from the [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)|Prophet’s (s) household]] are mentioned,<ref>Anwarī, ''Farhang-i buzurg-i sukhan'', under the word Salam Allah 'alayha.</ref> including [[Lady Fatima (a)]],<ref>See: Makārim Shīrāzī, ''Tafsīr-i nimūna'', vol. 11, p. 88; Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, ''Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a)'', vol. 1, p. 185.</ref> [[Lady Zaynab (a)]],<ref>See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, ''Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a)'', vol. 1, p. 166.</ref> [[Lady Ma'suma (a)]],<ref>See: Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, ''Silsila mabāḥith-i imāmat wa mahdawīyyat'', vol. 2, p. 278.</ref> as well as other females such as [[Lady Khadija (a)]]<ref>See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, ''Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a)'', vol. 1, p. 223.</ref> the Prophet’s (s) wife, [[Lady Mary (a)]] the mother of [[Prophet Jesus (a)]]<ref>See: Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, ''Dānishnāmah-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a)'', vol. 7, p. 394.</ref>, and [[Asiya]] the wife of the [[Pharaoh]]],<ref>See: Ḥāshimī Rafsanjānī, ''Farhang-i Qurʾān'', vol. 16, p. 247.</ref> the phrase "salam Allah 'alayha" or " 'alayha al-salam" are used. In the case of the Prophet (s), instead of 'alayh al-salam', the phrase "[[salla Allah 'alayh wa-alih]]" is used.<ref>Dihkhudā, ''Lughatnāma'', under the word salla Allah 'alayh wa-alih.</ref>

[[Sunni Muslims]] honor prophets<ref>See: Zamakhsharī, ''al-kashshāf'', vol. 1, p. 61, 129; Fakhr al-Rāzī, ''Mafātīḥ al-ghayb (al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr)'', vol. 1, p. 136.</ref> and some angels<ref>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.</ref> by using 'alayh 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).<ref>See: Suyūṭī, ''al-Durr al-manthūr'', p. 524; </ref> For [[Imam 'Ali (a)]], they also use the phrase "[[karram Allah wajhah]]" (may God honor his face).<ref>Ibn Kathīr, ''Tafsīr'', vol. 3, p. 524; Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī, ''al-fatāwā l-ḥadīthiyya'', vol. 1, p. 41.</ref> Moreover, in Sunni books, the phrase 'alayh al-salam is often used after mentioning Imam 'Ali (a).<ref>Mūjāhid b. Jabr, ''Tafsīr Mūjāhid', p. 684; Thaʿlabī,' 'al-Kashf wa l-bayān ʿan tafsīr al-Qurʾān'', vol. 1, p. 136.</ref> Ibn al-Kathir, a Sunni historiographer and Quranic exegete,<ref>Ibn Kathīr, ''Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm'', vol. 6, p. 478.</ref> and Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid, a [[Salafi]] scholar,<ref>al-Munajjid, ''Mawqiʿ al-Islām suʾāl wa jawāb<nowiki>'', vol. 9, p. 101.</ref> believe that in these cases 'alayh 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)<ref>See: Thaʿlabī, ''al-Kashf wa l-bayān ʿan tafsīr al-Qurʾān'', vol. 8, p. 116.</ref> and sometimes "salla Allah 'alayh wa-alih wa-sallam"<ref>See: Thaʿlabī, ''al-Kashf wa l-bayān ʿan tafsīr al-Qurʾān'', vol. 8, p. 116.</ref> (may God greet him and his household and send peace), and they sometimes use 'alayh al-salam after mentioning the Prophet (s).<ref>See: Zamakhsharī, ''al-kashshāf'', vol. 1, p. 2; Fakhr al-Rāzī, ''Mafātīḥ al-ghayb (al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr)'', vol. 1, p. 175.</ref>

According to a manuscript of the book ''[[al-Irshad]]'', which was transcribed in 566/1171, the phrase 'alayh al-salam is used for the Imams (a).<ref>Mufīd, ''al-Irshād'', vol. 1, p. 15.</ref>

In his account of the etiquette of writing Islamic disciplines, [[al-Shahid al-Thani]], a tenth-sixteenth century Shiite jurist, recommends writing 'alayh al-salam after mentioning the Imams (a).<ref>Shahīd al-Thānī, ''Munyat al-murīd'', p. 346-347.</ref> According to [[Fakhr al-Muhaqqiqin]], a Shiite jurist in the eighth/fourteenth century, Shiite scholars permit sending peace and greetings to all believers,<ref>Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn, ''Īḍāḥ al-fawāʾid'', vol. 1, p. 528.</ref> 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.<ref>Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn, ''Īḍāḥ al-fawāʾid'', vol. 1, p. 528.</ref>

In contrast, Ibn al-Kathir, a student of [[Ibn Taymiyya]],<ref>Ibn Kathīr, ''Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm'', vol. 6, p. 478.</ref> and 'Abd al-'Aziz bin Baz, a [[Wahhabi]] mufti, believe that it is improper to use 'alayh al-salam after mentioning Imam 'Ali (a), without using it in the case of other caliphs (as is practiced in some Sunni books).

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<ref>Qur'an 37: 181.</ref> or to particular prophets.<ref>See: Qur'an 37: 79 and 109.</ref> There is, of course, a hadith in ''[[Al-Amali (by al-Saduq)|al-Saduq’s al-Amali]]''<ref>Ṣadūq, ''al-Amālī'', p. 380.</ref> and ''[[Al-Amali (by al-Tusi)|al-Tusi’s al-Amali]]'',<ref>Ṭūsī, ''al-Amālī'', p. 424.</ref> 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 [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)|his household (a)]] and then to that prophet.<ref>Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, ''Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa'', vol. 7, p. 208.</ref> Some Shiite scholars use the phrase '' 'ala nabiyyina wa-alih wa-'alayh al-salam '' (peace be upon our prophet and his household and to him).<ref>See: Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, ''Muntakhab al-athar fī al-Imām al-thānī ʿashar'', vol. 2, p. 356.</ref>

The phrases 'alayh al-salam and salam Allah 'alayha are respectively abbreviated as (a) and (s).<ref>See: Subḥānī Tabrīzī, ''Āʾīn-i wahhābiyat'', p. 274; Mazāhirī, ''Mazhar-i ḥaqq'', p. 46.</ref> Some scholars believe that it is a common mistake, and in fact, disrespectful, to write the abbreviated forms of these phrases.<ref>[https://iqna.ir/fa/news/3619225/%D8%A2%DB%8C%D8%A7-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B4%D8%AA%D9%87-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B4%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B5-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%AC%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B5%D9%84%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%B9%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%87-%D9%88-%D8 Is it correct to write (s) instead of (salla Allah 'alayh wa-alih) in the writings? (Persian)]</ref> 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.<ref>[https://www.khabaronline.ir/news/270266/%D8%AF%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%84-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%85-%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B8%DB%8C%D9%85-%D9% The reason for using abbreviations for honoring imams. (Persian)]</ref>