Remembrance 1 from Chapter 76

The ‘ulamā’ agree about sending salutations to our Prophet Muḥammad , and they likewise agree about the permissibility and the merit of invoking blessings upon all of the Prophets and angels independently. As for persons other than the Prophets, the majority are of the opinion that blessings (ṣalawāt) are not to be invoked on them. So one cannot say ‘Abū Bakr, may Allah bless him’. However, there is disagreement over this prohibition. Some of our colleagues say it is ḥarām. The majority say that it is makrūh tanzīhī. Others say that it is not proper, but it is not makrūh. The correct view is that it is makrūh tanzīhī, because it is one of the rites of the innovators and we are forbidden to perform their rites. Makrūh is something about which a specific prohibition has been narrated.

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