Ṣalawāt is a Type of Mercy First, we know if we look closely at the Qurʾān and ḥadīth that ṣalawāt is a type of mercy. This is clear from one verse of the Qurʾān and one ḥadīth of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. 1) The verse: هُوَ الَّذِي يُصَلِّي عَلَيْكُمْ وَمَلَائِكَتُهُ لِيُخْرِجَكُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ وَكَانَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَحِيمًا It is He who [does ṣalawāt upon you] , as do His angels, in order to lead you out of the depths of darkness into the light. He is ever merciful towards the believers (33:43) Here Allāh most great explained the fact that He does ṣalawāt upon us, by stating that it is because He is ever merciful towards the believers. What this means is that ṣalawāt is linked to the mercy of Allāh, and is part of it. The link is made even stronger in the ḥadīth, almost suggesting that ṣalawāt and mercy are the same thing. 2) The ḥadīth: When the verse commanding the believers to send ṣalawāt upon the Prophet ﷺ was revealed, they went to the Prophet to ask him what exactly they should say in order to fulfil the command in the verse. The Prophet ﷺ could have simply instructed them to say: “Allahumma ṣalli ʿalā Muḥammad,” which is what the verse prescribed. However, the Prophet ﷺ said to them: Say: “O Allāh, [do ṣalawāt] upon Muḥammad and the āl (folk) of Muḥammad, as You have [done ṣalawāt] upon the āl of Ibrāhīm; You are worthy of all praise and glory. O Allāh send blessings upon Muḥammad and the āl of Muḥammad as You have sent blessings upon the āl of Ibrāhīm; You are worthy of all praise and glory.”1 As the great Imām al-Ṭībī (d. 743 A.H./1342 C.E.) noted in his commentary on this ḥadīth, here the Prophet ﷺ is referring to something already known regarding a ṣalawāt and blessings upon the Prophet Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) and his family, because he ﷺ said, “as You have done ṣalawāt… as You have blessed.” This can only be referring to what is mentioned in the Qurʾān: رَحْمَتُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ إِنَّهُ حَمِيدٌ مَّجِيدٌ The mercy of Allāh and His blessings be upon you, people of this house! He is worthy of all praise and glory (11:73)2 The Prophet of Allāh ﷺ ended his duʿāʾ with the same ending as this Qurʾānic verse, as if asking Allāh by the same attributes linked to the descent of mercy and blessings upon the household of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him), to also send ṣalawāt and blessings upon Muḥammad and his folk. We see here a clear parallel: the attributes of Allāh (awj) match, the baraka is mentioned in both the verse and ḥadīth, and those with connection to each prophet are mentioned (ahl in the Qurʾān, which is household, and āl in the ḥadīth, which can mean household or followers, or all those with a special connection with the Prophet). Therefore that leaves the mercy in the verse and the ṣalawāt in the ḥadīth to be paired together as equals, or as close parallels. While in Arabic, as in English, the word mercy is tied to compassion and closely linked with the act of forgiveness and pardon, it also has a different definition provided by our scholars. Theologically, Islamic tradition defines mercy as the intent to bring good to others and cause them benefit. But is the meaning of ṣalawāt then identical to mercy? The Arabic language would probably beg to differ, for otherwise they would have been the same word, but more than that, there is another verse in the Qurʾān that tells us otherwise.