Warning against the book Dalaa’il al-Khayraat

Question

Praise be to Allah.

It is not permissible to rely on the book
Dalaa’il al-Khayraat wa Shawaariq al-Anwaar fi Dhikr al-Salaah ‘ala al-Nabiy al-Mukhtaar, because it is full of things that go against Islamic
teachings, and of phrases that represent shirk, and da’eef (weak) and mawdoo’ (fabricated) hadeeths. We will discuss this in more detail in sha
Allah.

The Muslim should beware of attributing words to the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) without knowing how sound they are, because telling lies about him is not like telling lies about anyone else.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever tells lies about me, let him take his place in Hell.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 107; Muslim, 3. And he said: “Do
not tell lies about me, for whoever tells lies about me, will enter Hell.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 106).

And he said: “Whoever narrated a hadeeth from
me knowing that it is false, then he is one of the liars.” (Narrated by Muslim, 1).

The best way of sending blessings upon the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is that which he taught to his companions:

Al-Bukhaari (6357) and Muslim (406) narrated
that ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Abi Layla said: Ka’b ibn ‘Ujrah met me and said to me, Shall I not give you a gift? The Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) came out to us and we said, “O Messenger of Allaah, we know how to send salaams upon you, but how should we send blessings
upon you?” He said, “Say: Allaahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa ‘ala aali Muhammad kama salayta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka hameedun majeed;
Allaahumma baarik ‘ala Muhammad wa ‘ala aali Muhammad kama baarakta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka hameedun majeed (O Allaah, send prayers upon
Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent prayers upon the family of Ibraaheem, verily You are Worthy of Praise, Full of Glory. O
Allaah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon the family of Ibraaheem, verily You are Worthy of
Praise, Full of Glory).

Al-Bukhaari (3369) and Muslim (6360) narrated
from Abu Humayd al-Saa’idi (may Allaah be pleased with him) that they said: “O Messenger of Allaah, how should we send blessings upon you?” The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Say Allaahumma salli ‘ala Muhammadin wa azwaajihi wa dhurriyyatihi
kama salayta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, wa baarik ‘ala Muhammadin wa azwaajihi wa dhurriyyatihi kama baarakta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka hameedun
majeed (O Allaah, send prayers upon Muhammad and his wives and progeny as You sent prayers upon the family of Ibraaheem, and send blessings
upon Muhammad and his wives and progeny as You sent blessings upon the family of Ibraaheem, verily You are Worthy of Praise, Full of Glory).

Al-Suyooti (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said: I read in al-Tabaqaat by al-Taaj al-Subki, quoting from his father, the words: “The best words with which a person can send blessings
upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) are the words that appear in the Tashahhud.

He said: Whoever says these words has sent
blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) for certain, and whoever says any other words, there is some doubt as
to whether he has sent blessings in the required manner, because they said, ‘How should we send blessings upon you?’ and he said, ‘Say…’ So he
stated that sending blessings upon him is done in that manner.

He said: When I was young, when I sent
blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) I used to say, ‘Allaahumma salli wa baarik wa sallam ‘ala Muhammad
wa ‘ala aali Muhammad, kama salayta wa baarakta wa salamta ‘ala Ibraaheem was ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka hameedun majeed (O Allaah, send
prayers and blessings and peace upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent prayers and blessings and peace upon Ibraaheem and the
family of Ibraaheem), but then it was said to me in a dream, Are you more eloquent or concise or more knowledgeable about the meanings of words
than the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)? If there had been any more eloquent words, the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) would not have chosen these words. So I sought forgiveness for that and went back to the words of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

And he said: If anyone swears to send the best of prayers upon the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), then these words are the best he can say.

Quoted from al-Sunan wa’l-Mubtada’aat
by Muhammad ‘Abd al-Salaam al-Shuqayri, p. 232

And Allaah knows best.