Carefully discern this chapter, may Allah look after you, for you will come to know what "Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama`a" conceal, and to what extent they have gone in hating the Progeny of the Prophet, leaving no virtue of Ahl al-Bayt without distorting it. 

Among such distortions is the sending of blessings unto Muhammad and his Progeny as ordained in the Holy Qur'an. Al-Bukhari and Muslim, as well as all Sunni scholars who came after them, indicate that the sahaba once came to meet with the Prophet when the following verse was revealed: 

Relying on the authority of Ibn Mas`ud al-Ansari, al-Dar Qutni indicates the following in his Musnad: 

Thus do we come to know how the Sahih books of "Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama`a" describe the correct way of invoking Allah's blessings unto Muhammad and his Progeny, that Allah does not accept the prayers of anyone unless he blesses Muhammad and and his Progeny, and that the supplication of every Muslim is withheld till he invokes Allah's blessings unto Muhammad and his Progeny. It is, by my life, a great virtue and a sublime feat whereby Ahl al-Bayt are favored over all other humans; through them does a Muslim seek nearness to his Lord. 

But "Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama`a" were angered by leaving this feat of Ahl al-Bayt alone. They realized the dire consequences of doing so. No matter how many false "merits" and alleged "feats" can one attribute to Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and all the sahaba, such "merits" and "feats" can never reach the lofty status of Ahl al-Bayt, nor can they reach its zenith simply because the prayers of all those who thus attribute and allege can never be accepted by Allah so long as they do not seek nearness to Him by invoking His blessings unto Ali ibn Abu Talib next to Muhammad, since he is the master of the `Itrat, as everyone knows. 

It is for this reason that they resorted to its adulteration by adding something from their own selves which the Messenger of Allah never mandated in the hope of enhancing the status of their masters among the sahaba, deliberately curtailing this invocation from the very first century. Notice how whenever they wrote a book, they left it without stating the complete blessing unto Muhammad and his Progeny, and whenever they mention "Muhammad", or "the Prophet", or "the Messenger of Allah", they say: Salla Allahu alaihi was sallam (Allah blessed and saluted him), removing any reference to the Progeny of Muhammad. And if you converse with one of them and ask him to bless Muhammad, he will answer you by saying: Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, without referring to his Progeny. Some of them go as far as circumventing it even more, saying only: Salli wa sallim (bless and salute). But if you ask any Shi`a, be he from Arabia or Persia, etc., to bless Muhammad, he would say: Allahomma Salli ala Muhammadin wa Aali Muhammad (O Allah! I invoke You to bless Muhammad and the Progeny of Muhammad). 

The books written by "Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama`a" quote the Messenger of Allah mandating to "Say: Allahomma Salli ala Muhammadin wa Aali Muhammad," applying the present and future tense in the form of a supplication, an invocation, directed to the most Glorified One. Despite all of that, they are satisfied with the phrase "Salla Allahu Alaihi wa sallam," applying the past tense and in the narrative mode without making any reference to the Prophet's Progeny. 

Indeed, the leader of "Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama`a," namely Mu`awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, tried to remove any reference whatsoever to Muhammad in the athan.[140] No wonder, then, to find those who follow and emulate him deliberately circumventing and distorting sending blessings unto him. Had they been able to eliminate it altogether, they would have done just that, but there is no way they could^__or can^__ever do so. No way! 

You may nowadays hear those who ascend the pulpits, especially Wahhabi pulpits, offering nothing but the adulterated invocation of Allah's blessings unto him and his progeny. They may either use the curtailed supplication or, if they feel obligated to complete it, they will then add to it the phrase: "... and unto all his sahaba," or they may say, "... and unto his good and pure sahaba," thus changing the Qur'anic verse referring to the purification of Ahl al-Bayt to make it sound as though it was revealed in honor not of Ahl al-Bayt but of the sahaba. They do so in order to mislead the general public into thinking that the sahaba enjoy the same merits enjoyed by Ahl al-Bayt. 

They have, in fact, learned the art of adulterating and distorting from their very first faqih and "great leader" Abdullah ibn Umar of whose hatred towards Ahl al-Bayt we are already fully aware. In his Al-Mawta, Malik indicates that Abdullah ibn Umar used to stand at the grave of the Prophet, blessing him, Abu Bakr, and Umar.[141] 

if you, dear researcher, contemplate on the status quo, you will find such an addition, that is, the blessing of the sahaba in addition to blessing the Prophet and his Progeny, has no basis neither in the Holy Qur'an nor in the Prophet's Sunnah. Rather, both the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah have enjoined blessing Muhammad and his Progeny, and the command is directed to the sahaba before anyone else. You do not see such an addition except with "Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama`a." How many are the innovations in the creed which they have invented, calling them "Sunnah," aiming thereby to cover someone's merit or to hide a fact? 

[137] This is recorded on p. 136 of al-Dar Qutni's Sunan. 

[138] This is recorded on p. 88 of Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani's book Al-Sawa`iq al-Muhriqa. 

[139] Fayd al-Qadeer, Vol. 5, p. 19. Kanz al-Ummal, Vol. 6, p. 173. 

[140] For documentation of this claim, refer to p. 46 of my book Ask Those Who Know. 

[141] Explanation to Malik, Al-Muwatta', Vol. 6, p. 180, the chapter titled "Tanweer al-Hawalik" (enlightening the dark areas).