Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

When a person says salaams to the Prophet, (pbuh), God has said that the soul of the Prophet (pbuh) will be raised and a reply will come back. How is this possible. If this is so for the Prophet (pbuh) what about other Ulemahs, Wali`s and God fearing people who have passed away in the way of God Almighty. 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

How can our Salutations reach the Prophet?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (saws), "Do not turn my grave into a site of festivities, but send greetings to me for your greetings are raised to me wherever you might be." (Reported by Abu Daw'ud)

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (saws) said, "When any Muslim sends greetings to me, Allah returns my soul to me so that I may respond to his greetings." (Reported by Abu Dawud)

In a report related by Abu Dharr, he said, "the Prophet (saws) said, 'The most miserly among people is the one who fails to invoke blessings upon me, when my name is mentioned in his or her presence'."

How is this possible?

Brother, this is obviously something that happens in the ‘unseen’; and as believers we believe each and every word of Allah and His Messenger (saws) unconditionally, regarding the seen as well as the unseen. The Almighty Lord Who Created the heavens and the earth and everything that exists in between, is more than capable of returning the soul of the Prophet (saws) back to him after his death, and relating the salutations of the believers to him.

If this is so for the Prophet (pbuh) what about other Ulemahs, Wali`s and God fearing people who have passed away in the way of God Almighty. 

Ahmad and Tirmidhi reported on the authority of Anas that the Prophet (saws) said: "Your deeds are shown to your dead relatives and kinsfolk. So if these are good they are pleased, and if these are bad they say: 'O Allah! Let them not die until You have guided them to the right path, as You guided us before'."

In light of the above narration of the Prophet (saw), Allah reveals our deeds to our righteous dead relatives and kinfolk. If our deeds are good, they are pleased; and if they are bad, they supplicate to Allah Subhanah for us.

There is no harm if a believer supplicates Allah Subhanah for his dead relatives, or for the righteous believers.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan