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Why do Shi’a say “Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa Ali Muhammad”
By: Sayyid Rida' Husayni Nasab
When invoking blessings {salawat} on Muhammad (S), why do you also associate his progeny {a} to him by saying, “Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa Ali Muhammad” {“O Allah! Bless Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad”}?
Reply: It has been established that the Prophet (S) himself had taught the Muslims how to invoke blessings on him. When the following noble verse,
 Åöäøó Çááøóåó æóãóáóÇÆößóÊóåõ íõóáøõæäó Úóáóì ÇáäøóÈöíøö íóÇ ÃóíøõåóÇ ÇáøóÐöíäó ÂãóäõæÇ óáøõæÇ Úóáóíúåö æóÓóáøöãõæÇ ÊóÓúáöíãðÇ 
“Indeed Allah and His angels bless the Prophet. O you who have faith! Invoke blessings on him and invoke Peace upon him in a worthy manner,”[48][51]
was revealed, the Muslims asked the Prophet (S): “How should we invoke blessings (on you)?” The Prophet (S) said:
ÇáÈÊÑÇÁ ÇáøáæÉ Úáíø ÊáøæÇ áÇ
“Do not invoke ‘incomplete’ blessings on me.”
They again asked: “How should we invoke blessings on you?” He (S) replied: “Say:
ãõÍóãøóÏò Âáö Úóáìٰ æó ãõÍóãøóÏò Úóáìٰ óáøö Ãóááøåõãøó
Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa Ali Muhammad.
“O Allah! Bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.”[49][52]
The exceptionally high station of the Prophet’s family {al} (‘a) led Imam ash-Shafi‘i to compose the following famous poem:
ÍÈøßã Çááå ÑÓæá ÈíÊ Ãåá íÇ
ÃäÒáå ÇáÞÑÂä Ýí Çááå ãä ÝÑÖñ
Çäøóßã ÇáÞÏÑ ÚÙíã ãä ßÝÇßã
áå áæÉ áÇ Úáíßã íáøö áã ãóä
O members of the Household {Ahl al-Bayt} of the Messenger of Allah! (Our) love for you is an obligation, which God has revealed in the Qur’an.
Your lofty station such that if one does not invoke blessings on you (while offering prayers) one’s prayer will be of no avail.[50][53]
Why do Shi’a Add Ashhadu anna ‘aliyyan waliyyullah” in the Call to Prayer?
In adhan {call to prayer}, why do you say, “Ashhadu anna ‘aliyyan waliyyullah” {“I bear witness that ‘Ali is Wali of Allah”} and give testimony to the wilayah {guardianship} of ‘Ali (‘a)?
Reply: In order to reply to this question, let us consider the following points:
1. In their books on jurisprudence, all the Shi‘ah jurists {fuqaha} stress that to say: “I bear witness to the wilayah of ‘Ali (‘a)” is not part of adhan or iqamah, and no one has the right to say that it is part of any of the two.
2. From the viewpoint of the Qur’an, ‘Ali (‘a) is one of the awliya’, and the following verse explicitly points to his wilayah over the Muslims:
ÅöäøóãóÇ æóáöíøõßõãõ Çááøåõ æóÑóÓõæáõåõ æóÇáøóÐöíäó ÂãóäõæÇú ÇáøóÐöíäó íõÞöíãõæäó ÇáøóáÇóÉó æóíõÄúÊõæäó ÇáÒøóßóÇÉó æóåõãú ÑóÇßöÚõæäó
“Your guardian is only Allah, His Apostle, and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give the zakat while bowing down.”[51][55]
The Sunni Sahihs and Musnads include narrations that highlight the fact that the noble verse was revealed to praise ‘Ali (‘a) who, while doing ruku‘ {bowing down in prayer}, gave his ring to a poor person.[52][56] When this verse which refers to ‘Ali (‘a) was revealed, Hassan ibn Thabit versified this event in the following poem:
ÑÇßÚ ÃäúÊó ÅöÐú ÃÚúØóíúÊó ÇáøÐí ÝÃäúÊó
ÑÇßöÚ ÎóíÑó íÇ ÇáÞóæãö äóÝõæÓõ ÝóÏóÊúßó
æöáÇíóÉò ÎóíÑó Çááå Ýöíßó ÝóÃäúÒóáó
ÇáÔøóÑÇíöÚ ãõÍúßóãÇÊö Ýí æ ÈíäåÇ
You are the one who donated, while doing ruku‘. May the souls of the folk be sacrificed to you, O the best of those who bow down!
Thus, God has sent down the best wilayah to you, and explained it through the decrees of the Shari‘ah.
3. The Holy Prophet (S) said:
ÈÇáäøíÇÊ ÇáÃÚãÇá ÅäøóãÇ
“Verily, actions are (judged) by intention.”
Since the wilayah of ‘Ali (‘a) is one of the principles stipulated in the Qur’an, and the said phrase is not regarded as part of the adhan (or iqamah), what is wrong about uttering it alongside the testimony to the apostleship of the Prophet (S)?
Here, it is necessary to mention that if due to adding a sentence to adhan, the Shi‘ah must be castigated, how could the following two cases be justified?
1. Authentic historical references confirm that the following phrase:
ÇáúÚóãóáö ÎóíÑö Úóáìٰ Ííø
Hayya ‘ala khayr al-‘amal
“Come to the best of deeds”
was part of adhan,[53][57] but during the caliphate of the second caliph, this phrase was omitted under the pretext that when people hear the words “the best of deeds” they will think that praying is better than jihad and cease taking part in jihad. And things remained as such.[54][58]
2. The sentence,
Çáäøæãö ãöäó ÎóíúÑñ ÃáøáæÉ
As-salatu khayrun mina ’n-nawm
“Prayer is better than sleeping”
was not part of the adhan during the time of the Holy Prophet (S) but has been included therein later on,[55][59] and as such, in the book, Al-Umm, Imam ash-Shafi‘i says:
íÐßÑå áã ãóÍúÐæÑÉ ÃÈÇ áÃäøó Çáäøóæã ãä ÎíÑñ ÇáøóáæÉ ÇáÇÐÇä Ýí ÃßÑå
It is not pleasing for me that we say in the adhan: ‘as-salatu khayrun mina ’n-nawm’ because Abu Mahdhurah (one of the narrators and muhaddithun) has not included it (in his compilation of hadiths).[56][60]
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