When mentioning the name of our
Beloved Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa
alihi wa sallam), do NOT write (S.A.W,
S.A.S, A.S, R.A for the Sahaba n Awliya).
Write it in full: SALLALLAHU ALAYHI WA SALLAM. Its a
great sin to use abreviation.
“Whosoever sends blessings upon me in
a book, the angels seek forgiveness for
him until my name remains in that
book.” [Narrated by al-Tabrani in his al-
Awsat, See: al-Shifa’ by Qadhi Iyadh,
Page 557]
Hadrat Imam Jalaal al-Din as-Suyooti
(Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) said, "The
person who first introduced the practice
of using abbreviation for Durood had his
hands cut off"
Allama Sayyad Tahtawi (Radi Allahu
Anhu), making a marginal note in "Durr-
e-Mukhtar" states, and this quotation is
also found in "Fatawa Tatar Khaniah", "A
person who writes such abbreviation
with the name of any Prophet, become a Kafir." [Hashiyat al-Tahtawi, Dar al-
Ma'rifah (Berut - Lebanon), Vol. 1, Page 6]
Imam al-Nawawi, the great Muhaddith
and Shafi’i Faqih (Allah have mercy on
him) states in his introduction to the
commentary of Sahih Muslim: “It is
praiseworthy (mustahab) for a person
writing Hadith that…..at the mentioning of the Messenger of Allah (SallAllaho
Alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallam), he writes
“SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam” in full and
not merely using abbreviations, and
neither sufficing on one of the two, i.e.
Salat & Salam.” [Sharh Sahih Muslim, Vol. 1, Page 39]
At this point, the great Mujaddid, Imam
and Wali, A'la Hazrat Imam Ahmed Rida
al-Qadiri (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu)
comments by saying: Obviously, the pen
is also a language and to write any
meaningless words in place of is like hearing the sacred name of the glorious
Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam and
mumbling some meaningless thing.
Allah, the Almighty and Powerful,
states: ً
"But the unjust changed the word that had been ordered for another one, so We
sent down a punishment on them from
the skies, the recompense of their
disobedience." [Surah al-Baqarah, Verse
59] There Allah has ordered Bani Israel to
say (Say our sins be decreased), they said (We got wheat). This word has a
meaning and is still a Blessing of Allah
(Wheat), but just because of changing the
words, it caused the displeasure of Allah
and His destruction by His Punishment.
"Indeed Allah and His angels send
blessings on the Prophet; O People who
Believe! Send blessings and abundant
salutations upon him." [Surah al-Ahzaab,
Verse 56]
And this order is compulsory every time that you hear, say or write the sacred
name of the Holy Prophet SallAllahu
Alaihi wa Sallam. The fulfillment of the
above command when writing the
sacred name is to write , but, instead, this
was changed to which has absolutely no meaning. Do you not fear the Azab of
Allah descending upon you? May Allah
save us from this Azab! Aameen! This
concerns the Durood Sharif or Salawat
whose excellence is so great that its
abbreviation has a reason of Kufr in it.