Islam uses a number of conventionally complimentary phrases wishing-well or praising religiously-esteemed figures including God (Allah), Muhammad (Messenger of God), Muhammad's companions (sahaba), family (Ahl al-Bayt), other Islamic prophets and messengers, angels, and revered persons. In Twelver Shi'ism, honorifics are used with the Twelve Imams.
Islamic honorifics are referred to as ṣalawāt in Arabic, and durūd in both Persian and Urdu .
Islamic honorifics are not abbreviated in Arabic-script languages (e.g. Arabic, Persian, Urdu) given the rarity of acronyms and abbreviations in those languages, however, these honorifics are often abbreviated in other languages such as English, Spanish, and French. Common examples of these abbreviations include PBUH ('Peace be Upon Him') and SWT (subhanahu wa-ta'ala, 'Glorified and Exalted'). Though these honorifics may be abbreviated in writing, they are never abbreviated in speech. Abbreviations often vary in letter case and use of periods.
Honorifics, in Arabic or non-Arabic languages, can be written in multiple formats:
See also: Allah. Following the mention of God (Allah), including by pronoun (e.g. 'Him' or 'His'), or by one of the names bestowed upon him, one of the below honorifics are said or written.
| Arabic: سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ|rtl=yes | (SWT) | Glorified and exalted | ||
| Arabic: تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَىٰ|rtl=yes | (TWT) | Blessed and exalted | ||
| Arabic: عَزَّ وَجَلَّ|rtl=yes | (AZWJ) | Prestigious and majestic / Mighty and sublime |
See also: Muhammad. Muhammad's name, reference to him through a pronoun (e.g. 'his' or 'him'), or the use of one of his titles (e.g. 'the messenger of Allah') is followed by one of the below honorifics. The honorific "Blessings of Allah be upon him as well as peace" is the most widely used. The use of the word "blessings" (ṣallā,) can be used for all Islamic prophets (and Shia Imams) equally, however it is almost exclusively used with Muhammad.
| Arabic: صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ | (SAW), (SA), (PBUH) | May blessings of Allah be upon him as well as peace | ||
| ṣallā -llāhu ʿalayhi wa-ʾālihī wa-sallama | (SAWW), (SAWS), (SA), (PBUH) | May blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny and grant him peace | ||
| ṣallā -llāhu ʿalayhi wa-ʾālihī | (SAWA), (SA), (SAWW) | May blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny |
See also: Companions of the Prophet. Honorifics used for Muhammad's companions ask for Allah's pleasure with them. Muhammad's companions include men (Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali, etc.) and women (e.g. Fatima bint Muhammad, Aisha bint Abu Bakr, Asma bint Abu Bakr, etc.), and are accorded the properly gendered honorifics.
| raḍiya 'llāhu 'anhu | (RA) | Allah be pleased with him | |
| raḍiyatu 'llāhu 'anha | Allah be pleased with her | ||
| raḍiyata 'llāhu 'anhuma | Allah be pleased with them (dual) | ||
| raḍiya 'llāhu 'anhum | Allah be pleased with them |
See also: Prophets and messengers in Islam.
| ʿalayhi as-salāmu | (AS) | Peace be upon him | ||
| ʿalayhi aṣ-ṣalātu wa-as-salāmu | (ASWS) | Blessings and peace be upon him | ||
| salāmu -llāhi ʿalayhī | (SA) | Allah's peace upon him |
See also: Angels in Islam.
Some honorifics apply to the archangels (Jibril, Mikhail, etc.) as well as any other Islamic prophets preceding Muhammad (e.g. Isa, Musa, Ibrahim etc.). A group of modern scholars from Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Yemen, and Mauritania has issued fatwa that the angels should be invoked with blessing of, which also applied to human prophets and messengers.[1] This fatwa was based on the ruling from Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya.
| Arabic: عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ | (AS) | Peace be upon him[2] | ||
| Arabic: عَلَيْهِ ٱلصَّلَاةُ وَٱلسَّلَامُ | (ASWS) | Blessings and peace be upon him | ||
| Arabic: سَلَامُ ٱللَّٰهِ عَلَيْهِ | (SA) | Peace of God be upon him |
Some honorifics apply to highly-revered Islamic scholars and people thought to be of high spiritual rank. When that person has died, honorifics ask for Allah's mercy upon or pleasure with him or her. When that person is still living, honorifics customarily ask for Allah's preservation or relief.
| raḥmatu 'llāhi 'alay-hi | (RH) | Allah's mercy upon him | |
| raḥima-hu 'llāh | Mercy upon him | ||
| Allah's mercy upon her | |||
| Mercy upon her | |||
| Allah's mercy upon them | |||
| riḍwānu 'llāhi ta'ālā 'alayhi | (RA) | Allah be pleased with him | |
| riḍwānu 'llāhi ta'ālā 'alayhā | Allah be pleased with her | ||
| (HA) | Allah preserve him | ||
| hafiḏahā 'llāh | Allah preserve her | ||
| (FA) | Allah grant him relief | ||
| farraja 'llāhu 'anha | Allah grant her relief | ||
| raḍiya 'llāhu 'anhu | (RA) | May Allah be pleased with him | |
| raḍiyatu 'llāhu 'anha | May Allah be pleased with her | ||
| raḍiyata 'llāhu 'anhuma | May Allah be pleased with them (dual) | ||
| raḍiya 'llāhu 'anhum | May Allah be pleased with them |
Although disparaging and non-honorific, the following phrase may follow the name of a significant enemy of Muhammad, namely Abu Lahab, a Qurayshi leader in Mecca who opposed Islam's rise and was condemned by name by God in the Quran.
| la'anatu 'llahi 'alay-hi | (LA) | Allah's curse be upon him |
The honorifics for Muhammad are enjoined by Surat al-Ahzab:
See also: Hadith.
Al-Tirmidhi recorded that Abu Hurairah said, "The Messenger of Allah said, 'May he be humiliated, the man in whose presence I am mentioned and he does not send Salaam upon me; may he be humiliated, the man who sees the month of Ramadan come and go, and he is not forgiven; may he be humiliated, the man whose parents live to old age and they do not cause him to be granted admittance to Paradise. Al-Tirmidhi said that this hadith was, "good but only reported once".
In,, and, four of the six major hadith collections recorded that Abu Hurairah said, "The Messenger of Allah said: 'Whoever sends one Salaam upon me, Allah will send ten upon him.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal reported in his that the Companion of Muhammad, Abu Talha ibn Thabit, said:
Al-Bayhaqi reports that Abu Hurairah said that Muhammad said, "Send the Salaam on Allah's messengers and prophets for Allah sent them as He sent me."
This point is further founded in the saying by Muhammad, "The miser is the one in whose presence I am mentioned, then he does not send the Salam upon me." This was recorded in .
Scholars of the Salafi branch of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia have instructed their followers not to abbreviate the upon Muhammad. For example, Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, said:
| Unicode | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTF-8 Encoding | Symbol | Unicode Name | Transcription | Arabic | English | |
ؑ | Arabic sign ALAYHE ASSALLAM | Arabic: عليه السلام | Peace be upon him | |||
ؒ | Arabic sign RAHMATULLAH ALAYHE | Arabic: رحمة الله عليه | God have mercy upon him | |||
ؓ | Arabic sign RADI ALLAHOU ANHU | Arabic: رضي الله عنه | God be pleased with him | |||