In his book, Hayat-e-Qudsi, Hazrat Maulana Ghulam Rasul Sahib Rajekira states:
Durood Sharif and the Promised Messiah
The deliberation on the words of Durood Sharif, which are also recited in the salat, shows that the Promised Messiahas who was to appear was to be a Muhammadan Messiah and not an Israelite, because the prayer for the Holy Prophetsa is that the blessings of Prophet Abrahamas and his progeny be bestowed on him and Aal-e-Muhammad [progeny of Muhammadsa]. Since the Israelite Messiah came before the Holy Prophetsa and is one of the prophets of Israel and from the progeny of Prophet Abrahamas, the prayer of Durood Sharif indicated that the [ummah] of the Holy Prophetsa would also be blessed with a Messiah similar to the one granted to Prophet Abrahamas and his progeny.
Hence, the Holy Prophetsa was to be granted another Messiah similar to that of the first Messiah and not that the first Messiah was to be sent again. If the first Messiah comes again, then the presence of the word kamaa [i.e. similar, in Durood Sharif], which refers to the likeness of the first Messiah and not the exact same personage of the first Messiah, becomes null and void, because there must be a difference between the mushabbah [primum comparationis, that which is being compared] and mushabbah-bihi [secundum comparationis, that which the primum comparationis is compared with], otherwise there is no point in comparing [the two].
Thus, the presence of the word kamaa has shown by its presence that the Promised Messiahas was not the first Messiah or the Israelite Messiah, but his embodiment and another Messiah who was to be an individual of the ummah of Muhammadsa, i.e. a Muhammadan Messiah, as is described in the ahadith of اِمَامُكُمْ مِنْكُمْ and حُلْيَتَيْن. Moreover, the words minkum and kamaa in the following Ayat-e-Istikhlaf also refer to the same fact:
وَعَدَ اللّٰهُ الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا مِنۡكُمۡ وَعَمِلُوا الصّٰلِحٰتِ لَيَسۡتَخۡلِفَنَّهُمۡ فِي الۡاَرۡضِ كَمَا اسۡتَخۡلَفَ الَّذِيۡنَ مِنۡ قَبۡلِهِمۡ ۪ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمۡ دِيۡنَهُمُ الَّذِي ارۡتَضٰي لَهُمۡ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمۡ مِّنۡۢ بَعۡدِ خَوۡفِهِمۡ اَمۡنًا ؕ يَعۡبُدُوۡنَنِيۡ لَا يُشۡرِكُوۡنَ بِيۡ شَيۡئًا ؕ وَمَنۡ كَفَرَ بَعۡدَ ذٰلِكَ فَاُولٰٓئِكَ هُمُ الۡفٰسِقُوۡنَ
[“Allah has promised to those among you who believe and do good works that He will surely make them Successors in the earth, as He made Successors from among those who were before them; and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them; and that He will surely give them in exchange security and peace after their fear: They will worship Me, and they will not associate anything with Me. Then whoso is ungrateful after that, they will be the rebellious.” (Surah al-Nur, Ch.24: V.56)]
That is, the person who was to be appointed to represent the Holy Prophetsa and granted his successorship will be a member of the Muhammadan ummah. In such a case, the Israelite Messiah, who has undoubtedly passed away according to the Holy Quran, ahadith and historical facts, even if he is accepted to be alive, he cannot become the successor of the Holy Prophetsa because the words minkum and kamaa in the Holy Quran, ahadith and Durood Sharif are against this matter that such a Messiah should become the successor of the Holy Prophetsa who is not from his ummah.
Manifestation of Muhammadan glory in the Promised Messiah
When we contemplate on the words of Durood Sharif, it also becomes clear that all the blessings of Prophet Abrahamas and his progeny which are to be granted to the Holy Prophetsa and Aal-e-Muhammad are in the sense that the Holy Prophetsa will be given the attributes and blessings of all the prophets from Prophet Adamas to Prophet Jesusas. The divine vision of the Holy Prophetsa in which he led all the prophets in salat as an imam in Bait-ul-Maqdas also shows that the attributes of all the prophets can be adopted separately or collectively by following him. Consequently, according to the hadith: عُلَمَاءُ اُمَّتِي كَانْبِيَاءِ بَنِي اِسرَائِيل [“The scholars of my ummah are like the prophets of the Bani Israil”], every mujaddid [reformer] of his ummah inherited the attributes of one of the past prophets, and the Promised Messiahas, who is the Mujaddid-e-Azam [greatest of all the mujaddids of the ummah of the Holy Prophetsa], inherited the attributes of all the prophets collectively under the glory of Jariullah fi hulalil-Anbiya [The champion of Allah in the mantles of the prophets]. Moreover, as the Holy Prophetsa is from the progeny of Prophet Abrahamas, the Promised Messiahas, being from Aal-e-Muhammad, owing to the words of kamaa sallayta and kamaa baarakta alaa Ibrahima wa alaa aali Ibrahima, also inherited the attributes and blessings of the Holy Prophetsa as a reflection.
Revelation of the Promised Messiah about Durood Sharif
The revelation that was sent to the Promised Messiahas regarding Durood Sharif is as follows:
صَلِّ عَلٰي مُحَمَّدٍ وَّ اٰلِ مُحَمَّدٍ۔ الصَّلٰوةُ هُوَ الْمُرَبِّيْ۔ اِنِّيْ رَافِعُكَ اِلَيَّ۔ وَاَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِّنِّيْ
[“Call down blessings on Muhammadsa and the people of Muhammadsa. Calling down blessings is the true training. I [God] shall raise you towards Me and bestow My nearness upon you. And I have conferred My own love upon you.” (Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part III [English], p. 212)]
(The Promised Messiahas himself translated it as): “Send blessings on Muhammadsa and Aal-e-Muhammad. Progress and perfection are granted by the training of durood alone. I [God] will raise you. I will clothe you with the mantle of My love.”
(The Promised Messiahas further said that): “By invoking durood on the Holy Prophetsa, one can attain the status of Prophet Jesusas and even the rank of Prophet Mosesas, and God will prove this through the person of the Promised Messiahas. (Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part III [English], p. 175)
Then, on page 128 [old edition] of Haqiqatul-Wahi, the Promised Messiahas says:
“On one occasion, it so happened that I remained very much occupied with calling down blessings on the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, for a long time, for I believed that the ways leading to God are very fine and cannot be discovered except through the agency of the Holy Prophet, as Allah says too: وَابۡتَغُوۡۤا اِلَيۡهِ الۡوَسِيۡلَةَ [‘And seek the way of approach unto Him,’ Surah al-Maidah, 5:36]. After a time, I saw, in a vision, that two water carriers came and entered into my house, one by the outer entrance and the other by the inner entrance carrying on their shoulders water-skins full of divine light and they said: هٰذَا بِمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلٰى مُحَمَّدٍ [‘This is on account of the blessings you invoked upon Muhammad’].” [The Philosophy of Divine Revelation, p. 154]
Blessings of Durood Sharif
There are many benefits of reciting Durood Sharif. In addition to other benefits, there is the benefit that since Durood Sharif is an accepted prayer, so if it is recited before and after one’s personal prayer, then this practice, owing to the intercession of the Holy Prophetsa, proves to be an excellent means for the acceptance of prayer.
Then, as the Holy Prophetsa, because of his compassion for mankind, desired for every human being that they achieved the best religious and worldly objectives in their lives, if Durood Sharif is recited by including his aims as one’s own objectives, then this practice is also very useful for the acceptance of prayer and achievement of one’s objectives.
Any difficult matter that is apparently impossible to handle can be overcome and solved by reciting Durood Sharif. Thus, the reward of invoking Durood Sharif will help eliminate the problem.
(Translated by Al Hakam from the original Urdu in Hayat-e-Qudsi, pp. 610-612)