Peace be upon him
The Arabic phrase ʿalayhi s-salām, which translates as "peace be upon him" is a conventionally complimentary phrase or durood attached to the names of the prophets in Islam. The English phrase is also given the abbreviation PBUH in English-language writing. An extended variant of the phrase reads , and it is often abbreviated SAW or SAWS in writing, even in English. The Arabic phrase is given the name Salawat. The phrase is encoded as a ligature at Unicode code point
Some Islamic scholars have voiced disagreement with the practice of abbreviating these phrases, arguing that it demonstrates laziness and a lack of respect.
Variants of the phrase in Arabic
After mentioning one of the names of God, such as Allah, an expression of worship is used as opposed to the phrases of supplication used for regular individuals. These include:| Arabic Qurʾanic Arabic Transliteration | Meaning | Abbreviation |
| Glorified and Lofty | , | |
| subḥānahu wa-taʿālā | Glorified and Lofty | , |
| Blessed and Lofty | ||
| tabāraka wa-taʿālā | Blessed and Lofty | |
| Prestigious and Majestic | , | |
| Prestigious and Majestic | , |
In the Qur'an
Giving these blessings is often taken from Surah al-Ahzab, Ayah 56:In tafsir
The scholar ibn Kathir, titled the section in his Tafsir ibn Kathir regarding this verse, "The Command to say salawat upon the Prophet ". This point is further founded in the saying by Muhammad, "The miser is the one in whose presence I am mentioned, then he does not send the Salam upon me." This was recorded in Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal.In hadiths
The evidence for sending ṣalawāt on Muhammad is not limited to the Qurʻān. It is also found in hadiths about Muhammad.Al-Tirmidhi recorded that Abu Hurairah said, "The Messenger of Allah said, 'May he be humiliated, the man in whose presence I am mentioned and he does not send Salaam upon me; may he be humiliated, the man who sees the month of Ramadan come and go, and he is not forgiven; may he be humiliated, the man whose parents live to old age and they do not cause him to be granted admittance to Paradise.'" Al-Tirmidhi said that this hadith was ḥasan gharib "Good but only reported once".
In Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawood, Jami` at-Tirmidhi, and al-Sunan al-Sughra, four of the Six major Hadith collections, recorded that Abu Hurairah said, "The Messenger of Allah said: 'Whoever sends one Salaam upon me, Allah will send ten upon him.'"
Ahmad ibn Hanbal reported in his Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal that the Companion of Muhammad, Abu Talha ibn Thabit, said:
Al-Bayhaqi reports that Abu Hurairah said that Muhammad said, "Send the Salaam on Allah's messengers and prophets for Allah sent them as He sent me."