SWALAATUL JUMAH There is no recommended [sunnah] or voluntary [nafila] act of worship ['amal] which brings greater merit to a believer

on Fridays than the recital of salutations [salawat] on the beloved Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. This is attested to by many sound Prophetic narrations [ahadith]. Amongst the huge corpus of salawat available, the following is a special one for the Day of Gathering [yawmu-l jumua]. It is also known as durud-e-tayyib. This salutation is narrated by hujjatu-l Islam (the Proof of Islam) Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazzali in two of his works viz.:

The Arabic ihy ulmu-d dn (Revival of the Islamic Sciences) The Persian kimiy-e-saadat (Alchemy of Happiness)

Imam al-Ghazzali states the following about this noble salutation: It is said, Whoever repeats this on Friday seven (7) times will receive the intercession [shafaa] of the Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace. It is assured. Our Grand-Shaikh, Imam al-Arus Sayyid Muhammad, has also mentioned about the merits of this salutation in his magnum opus, maghn mulhi-t tibyni f sharhi man fathi-d dayyni. Our Shaikhuna, Taika Shuaib, highly emphasises the recital of this salutation together with Al-Itiraf and Wirdu-l Jumua after the Friday congregational prayers [salatu-l Jumua]. It is worth noting that Imam al-Jazuli has included this salutation in the third chapter [hizbu-th thalith] of his sublime salawat compendium, dalailu-l khayrat wa shawariqu-l anwar fi dhikri-s salati ala-n nabiyyi-l mukhtar. Success is from Allah. Salutation for the Day of Gathering

Allhumma salli wa sallim wa brik al sayyidin Muhammadin wa al li sayyidin Muhammadin saltan taknu laka ridan, wa lahu jazan, wa li-haqqihi adan, wa atihi-l waslata wa-l fadlata, wa-bathhu-l maqma-l mahmda-ni lladhi wa adtah, wa-jzihi ann m huwa ahluh, wa-jzihi ann afdala m jzaita nabiyyan an qawmihi wa raslan an ummatih, wa salli alaihi wa al jami ikhwnihi mina-n nabiyyna wa-l mursalna wa-s siddqna wa-sh shuhadi wa-slihn, bi-rahmatika y arhama-r rhimn. O Allah, shower Thy beneficence, give peace and rain blessings upon our liege-lord Muhammad and upon the family of our liege-lord Muhammad with a benediction that is acceptable to Thee and as may recompense him befitting his stature; grant him the means and the merit; elevate him to the praiseworthy station Thou hast promised him; honour him on our behalf with the most beautiful requital and a reward more excellent than one granted by Thee to any Prophet on behalf of his people or to any Messenger on behalf of his nation; and invoke blessings upon him and his brothers from the Prophets, the Messengers, the Truthful, the Martyrs, and the Righteous. By Thy Universal Mercy, O most Merciful of the merciful. (7 times) And Allah is the Guide!