In his book, Hayat-e-Qudsi, Hazrat Maulana Ghulam Rasul Sahib Rajekira states:
Manifestation of divine attributes through Durood Sharif
In the Holy Quran, Allah the Almighty says:
وَسَلٰمٌ عَلَي الۡمُرۡسَلِيۡنَ۔ وَالۡحَمۡدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَ
[“And peace be upon the Messengers! And all praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.” (Surah As-Saffat, Ch.37: V.182-183)]
In the previous [verse], God says:
سُبۡحٰنَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الۡعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُوۡنَ
[“Holy is thy Lord, the Lord of Honour and Power, far above that which they assert.” (Surah al-Saffat, Ch.37: V.181)]
The meaning of the aforementioned two verses is that acknowledging the messengers of God Almighty as innocent, free from every vice and defects, and believing in them agreeably is a proof and a sign that all and perfect praise belongs to Allah the Almighty. The greatness of His praise is that He is unceasingly showering His blessings for the guardianship of all the worlds and the advent of God’s messengers also comes under His guardianship, which eventually led to the appearance of the greatest messenger, Muhammadsa Rasulullah, to all the nations of the world and for the guardianship of all the creations. By doing so, in addition to the manifestation of His praise, Allah the Almighty demonstrated to the atheists and polytheists that, “All the Glory belongs to your Lord, Who has sent you, O Messenger, and He is free from all those faults and defects which the ignorant, polytheists and atheists attribute to His Holy and Praise-worthy Being.”
Hence, in صَلُّوۡا عَلَيۡهِ وَسَلِّمُوۡا تَسۡلِيۡمًا [“Invoke blessings on him and salute him with the salutation of peace”], the reason for sending salaam in addition to salat is in the same sense as stated above. It is for this very reason that the words of Salat [Durood Sharif] for sending durood on the Holy Prophetsa contain the attributes of Al-Hameed [the Most Praise-worthy] and Al-Majeed [the Most Glorious] of God Almighty, which means that the praise and glory of Allah the Almighty have a special connection with the status of the prophethood of the Holy Prophetsa and the manifestation of his truthfulness.
The aims and objectives of the Holy Prophetsa
When Durood Sharif is recited as a dua [prayer], it is necessary to keep in view the aims and objectives of the Holy Prophetsa and pray for their fulfilment. The aims and objectives of the Holy Prophetsa are of three kinds: (1) Regarding the Creator; (2) with respect to the creation; (3) about the nafs [inner self].
As regards the Creator, the objective of the Holy Prophetsa is to manifest the greatness of the word of God and the regard for the commandments of God in the world.
Regarding the creation, [the objective of the Holy Prophetsa] is that every human being may attain the tawhid [belief in the Unity of Allah] of God Almighty in a doctrinal and practical way, and fulfil the entrusted rights of God and the rights His creation, and become a perfect model in discharging the obligations of showing regard for the commandments of God and compassion for God’s creation. Moreover, they may become the heirs to paradise and be saved from hellish life by being close and attaining nearness to God.
The personal [nafs] objective [of the Holy Prophetsa] is that according to اِنَّ صَلَاتِيۡ وَنُسُكِيۡ وَمَحۡيَايَ وَمَمَاتِيۡ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَ [“My Prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds”], the extent to which the Holy Prophetsa desired for himself to advance in the stages of irfan [divine wisdom] and closeness to God Almighty, he may continue to progress along those lines at all times. Therefore, the verse: وَلَلۡاٰخِرَةُ خَيۡرٌ لَّكَ مِنَ الۡاُوۡلٰي [“Surely every hour that follows is better for thee than the one that precedes”], gives the glad tidings that the status of the Holy Prophetsa has the glory of progressing to infinite degrees.
Salat, nusuk, hayat and mamat
In the verse, اِنَّ صَلَاتِيۡ وَنُسُكِيۡ وَمَحۡيَايَ وَمَمَاتِيۡ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَ [“My Prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds”], the salat of the Holy Prophetsa has been placed before hayat [life] on muqam-e-istifaza [the station of seeking blessings], and nusuki, i.e. his sacrifice has been placed before mamat [death] on muqam-e-ifaza [the station of distributing blessings]. From this, it is explained that the great objective of his life is that on the one hand, an endless series of seeking blessings from Allah the Almighty may continue forever and on the other, an infinite and eternal series of the distribution of blessings may continue for the creation of God through the Holy Prophetsa.
This very objective has also been expressed in the words of the verse: فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانۡحَرۡ [“So pray to thy Lord, and offer sacrifice”]. That is, seek blessings with fa-salli [so pray to thy Lord], and continue the series of sacrifices with inhar [offer sacrifice], which is a distribution of blessings from the Holy Prophetsa to the people, and as a result, he will be blessed with kauthar [abundance of good]. That is, the abundance of all kinds of rewards and blessings which is infinite and beyond the limits of counting.
The sacrifice of the Holy Prophetsa is also mentioned in the words of the verses: لَعَلَّكَ بَاخِعٌ نَّفۡسَكَ اَلَّا يَكُوۡنُوۡا مُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ [“Haply thou wilt grieve thyself to death because they believe not”] and عَزِيۡزٌ عَلَيۡهِ مَا عَنِتُّمۡ[“Grievous to him is that you should fall into trouble”]. That is, leave aside the sympathy and compassion of the Holy Prophetsa for other creations, his compassion and sacrifice for the disbelievers, who were his mortal enemies, was such that God Almighty, Who is the Creator of the nature and the Knower of the unseen and the seen, testifies that the Holy Prophetsa was melting with compassion for his enemies and disbelievers to such a degree that he was risking his life due to his concern and extreme spiritual practices.
Thus, keeping in view the said compassion of the Holy Prophetsa and bearing in mind his benevolent and gracious favours and kindness, while sending Durood Sharif on the Holy Prophetsa, one should pray for the fulfilment of his aims and objectives.
The durood of Allah the Almighty and His angels
The durood of Allah the Almighty and His angels is different from that of the believers. That is, the durood of Allah the Almighty and His angels is a bestowing of grace without any effort and without any compensation or exchange under the attribute of rahmaniyyat [graciousness]. On the other hand, the durood of the believers is a prayer and a spiritual practice and effort due to which the blessings of God Almighty are bestowed as a reward under the attribute of rahimiyyat [mercy]. In this way, the Holy Prophetsa is showered with blessings through both the attributes of rahmaniyyat [graciousness] and rahimiyyat [mercy].
At the same time, a believer through his utmost attention and utilising the fullest possible extent of his divine wisdom should pray by including in his Durood Sharif the durood of Allah the Almighty and His angels, and also remembering the blessings of the prayers of all the prophets and believers, and their favours and supplications. In this way, they should expand the scope of istifaza [seeking blessings] for the Holy Prophetsa. Moreover, they should combine the blessings of the attributes of rahmaniyyat and rahimiyyat and present it in a comprehensive manner in their durood.
(Translated by Al Hakam from the original Urdu in Hayat-e-Qudsi, pp. 604-606)
