Why we make salat for the prophet?

Question

I was wondering why we make 'salat' for the prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) while he don't need it !

Answer 1

Allah says in the Qu'ran:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

Indeed, Allah and His Angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe! Send blessings on him and greet him (with) greetings.

(al-Ahzab 33:56)

In this ayat, Allah has ordered us to send blessings on him.

Faddaalah ibn ‘Ubayd said:

“The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) heard a man making du’aa’ in his prayer, but he did not praise Allaah or send blessings on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘This man is in a hurry.’ Then he called him or someone else and said, ‘When any one of you prays, let him begin by praising his Lord, then let him send blessings on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), then let him pray for whatever he wants after that.’”

(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3477, and Abu Dawood, 1481)

In this hadith, the Prophet ordered us to send blessings on him.

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Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said the reason why send this dua for the Prophet is:

“Sending blessings upon him is one of the greatest means of having du’aa’s answered, and this has been enjoined by Allaah. Sending blessings upon him in du’aa’ is what is indicated by the Qur’aan, Sunnah and ijmaa’ (scholarly consensus).

(Majmoo al-Fataawa, 1/347)

Ibn al-Qayyim said:

In these contexts in which it is prescribed to send blessing upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), it is prescribed to send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) before starting the du’aa’. The key to du’aa’ is sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), just as the key to salaah (prayer) is purity. So may Allaah send blessings and peace upon him and his family.

Conclusion: To sum up, the reason why we send blessings to the Prophet are three:

• Allah ordered us to
• The Prophet ordered us to
• It is a means of duas being answered

And Allah knows best.

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Source: Islamqa.info

Answer 2

Simply said the answer is because he deserves it (even if he might not need these prayers):
Sending prayers and blessings to the Prophet () is a honorific act and a way to pay respect to him! So it means honoring him, as Allah honored him out of all HIS Messengers, Prophets, Angels and all HIS Creation by the known verse from surat al-Ahzab (33-56).

This can also be concluded for example from the wording of this hadith from sunan an-Nasa-i:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came one day with a joyful expression on his face. He said: "Jibril came to me and said: 'Will it not please you, O Muhammad, (to know) that no one of your Ummah will send salah upon you but I will send salah upon him tenfold, and no one will send salams upon you but I will send salams upon him tenfold?
(See also a second version in sunan an-Nasa-i)

"Will not please..." comes here with the meaning "isn't that enough honoring to ask the believers to..." or "Isn't that high esteem or respect to ask the believers to ..."

And of course it is a mandatory act which must be performed by each Muslim at least once in lifetime (so far there's a consensus of scholars according imam al-Qurtobi in his tafsir) based on the order of Allah in surat al-Ahzab (33-56) and many ahadith on this matter.

See also: What does "السلام عليكم أيها النبي" actually mean?

Why do we use different phrases for different prophets??

Why so careful about honorifics?

Why do Muslims add "peace be upon him" after names of important people?

and many other relevant posts which you may find at the right of this site.

Answer 3

Allah have told us to make it in the Qouran:

إن الله وملائكته يصلون على النبي يا أيها الذين آمنوا صلوا عليه وسلموا تسليما ndeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [ Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [ Allah to grant him] peace