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Salamo3alaykom, I have a question regarding the linguistics after the tashahhud.

للَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ، وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، إِنَّكَ "حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ، وَبَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ، وَعَلَى آلِإِبْرَاهِيمَ، فِي الْعَالَمِينَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ

In this sentence what's the difference between صلّ and برك? I know that صلٌ in this context doesn't mean "praying" because Allah subhana wa ta'ala definitely does NOT pray since he is Allah.but it might mean "sending blessings ", but also barik means "sending blessings". I've found some BAD rough translations in Italian and French that in this very context translate صلّ as praying, and I thought in myself that this is impossible because Allah subhana wa ta'ala does NOT pray because He is Allah (so this would be shirk because there's no superior over Allah), the All-Mighty. So can someone clarify the difference between برك and صلّ in this context please?

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Best to ask this question to an Arabic scholar.

Per my own ijtihad (independent reasoning - take it with a grain of salt until you get confirmation from a scholar), it seems that the word صَلِّ is more broad in meaning than the word بَارِكْ. The word بَارِكْ refers to specifically blessings while the word صَلِّ refers to Allah's (ﷻ) Blessings, Mercy and/or Praises.

Al-Bukhari said: "Abu Al-Aliyah said: "Allah's Salah is His praising him before the angels, and the Salah of the angels is their supplication.'' Ibn Abbas said: "They send blessings.'' Abu Isa At-Tirmidhi said: "This was narrated from Sufyan Ath-Thawri and other scholars, who said: `The Salah of the Lord is mercy, and the Salah of the angels is their seeking forgiveness. [Tafsir Ibn Kathir].

Notice the very first portion of the Tashahhud is all encompassing, i.e., saying that everything [all greetings, all blessings, all good acts] are from Allah (ﷻ). So it makes sense that a more broad term for blessings is used. Then after that we are asking for specifics i.e., specifically Allah's (ﷻ) mercy and blessings (بَارِكْ) upon him in the later portion of the Tashahhud.

You are correct that صلّ when in regard to Allah (ﷻ) cannot and does not mean prayer.

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  • Salamo3alaykom, thanks for your contribution first and foremost. As I've already stated, I've found these mistaken translations so upsetting and misleading because they involve shirk and they can be used by fake apologetics to make some fake, erroneous and very specious arguments. Regarding to an Arabic scholar, here in Italy there are very, very few Muslims and most of them come from a Moroccan background that is engrained more in the culture rather than religion (i.e they mainly like Moroccan traditions more than the Sunnah) and definitely there's no scholar in Italy unfortunately.
    – us er
    Jun 10, 2019 at 23:37
  • Unfortunately I don't live in the UK in which there are some valid asatidha (teachers) or some righteous people.
    – us er
    Jun 10, 2019 at 23:39
  • Try sending your question to IslamQA.info or Islamweb.com or Islamqa.org
    – Muslimah
    Jun 11, 2019 at 0:06
  • That's what I've done. Thank you anyway for the advice
    – us er
    Jun 11, 2019 at 0:16
  • Did they answer? Can you please link the question? Jazak Allah khayran
    – Qataada
    Dec 8, 2019 at 20:44
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you are on a right path of seeking more and more knowledge about certain terms which are used in islam which will lead you to be more and more perfect in emaan , i congratulate you to become so inquisitive , may Allah send his blessings to you and your family. i would suggest to learn some basic arabic language specially sarf and nahav you will really enjoy islam and your emaan will become more and more in capacity and and quality. you have to give some time to it.... it is such an interesting to learn quranic basic arabic. go on to videos by Georgia state university professor who was very helpful to me...

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