I thank Allah the Lord of the world and I ask him to raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and his kind Al and companions.

Dear brothers in Islam,

To praise Prophet Muhammad in chanting solo or in a group is a good thing that Allah loves and rewards for it. Such an action is not a bad innovation as some claim. Only an ignorant innovator would refute it.

Praising Prophet Muhammad congregationally has been affirmed in two Hadiths, the first of which was narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad from the saying of Anas, the son of Malik, that some people from Ethiopia chanted in the Prophet’s Mosque and said: “Muhammad is a good slave of Allah”. When the prophet asked what are they saying, it was said: they are saying: “Muhammad is a good slave of Allah”.

Also Al-Bazzar (another narrator) narrated in his book that the people from Ethiopia danced (in this context dancing refers to jumping on their legs) and chanted in front of Prophet Muhammad and said: “Abal Qasim (referring to Prophet Muhammad) is a good man”, affirmed by Hafith Ibn AlQattan.

Prophet Muhammad did not object to them for combining dancing with chanting.

Praising Prophet Muhammad is a rewardable deed for it is considered as an obedience to Allah the One who ordered us to glorify His Prophet. So by praising, glorifying and honouring Prophet Muhammad we are obeying Allah. This is in support of group chanting, and the solo chanting is supported by what  Hafith Ibn Hajar and As–Suyuti and others narrated that Al-^Abbas the son of ^Abdulmuttalib, Prophet Muhammad’s uncle said to our dear Prophet: “I would like to praise you in some verses”. The Prophet said what means: “say them, may Allah save your teeth”. So I went on saying some verses the last of which:

“And when you were born the earth lit up and the horizons were enlightened by you”.

It is also permissible to use instruments such as the Duff (Tamborine) when chanting the praises of Prophet Muhammad. Ibn Majah narrated that Anas, the son of Malik said that: “the Prophet of Allah once as he was walking in the Madinah some young ladies were beating the Tambourine (Duff) and chanting: “We are young women from the tribe of An-Najjar and how great it is to have a neighbour like Prophet Muhammad”. Prophet Muhammad replied what means: “Allah knows that I love you”.  In his book Misbahuz-Zujajah the Hafiz Al-Busiri has confirmed the Hadith and classified it as Sahih.

This is the truth about the Chanting and praising the messenger of Allah. This is the belief of all Muslims from the times of Prophet Muhammad.

But that deviant group which appeared some two hundred and fifty years ago rejected the praises of Prophet Muhammad and went further in hassling all those who chanted the praises of Prophet Muhammad. How dare they? If they have a proper understanding of the Holy Qur’an they would know the meaning of the verse in Surat Al-A^raf:     فالذين ءامنوا به وعزروه  meaning [Those who believed in Muhammad and glorified him] and then it would be enough for them to leave their bad innovation and follow the majority of Muslims in praising the best of all the creations, Prophet Muhammad peace be upon Him.

Allah has praised his Prophet in the Holy Qur’an better than any other praising, in Surat al-Qalam Allah said: وإنك لعلى خلق عظيم   which means: “You indeed have great manners”.

There was a good man who was known to praise Allah a lot, after he died he was seen in a dream being asked: “Why didn’t you say something in praising the messenger of Allah?”. He answered in poetry:

“I see any praising of the prophet short    no matter how much one would say. When Allah praised him in his revealed book how could people’s praise compare”.

I would like to end my speech by mentioning the belief of Prophet Muhammad and his companions and those that followed righteously.

Allah, the creator of this world is not contained in it, He existed eternally without the need for any thing. He is not designated in a place, nor in the heavens or any other direction, and He exists without a place now as He existed eternally before creating the world. He is the creator, and everything else is created by him. Our thoughts are also created therefore whatever one thinks of or imagines can not resemble Allah.

We ask Allah to grant us the blessings of praising Prophet Muhammad and gather us in Paradise with all His Prophets Ameen.