Peace be upon him (Islam)

160 px|thumb|right|Muhammed's name with Salat phrase in Thuluth.
Peace be upon him is a phrase that practising Muslims often say after saying (or hearing) the name of a prophet of Islam. There are two variants of this phrase in Arabic:
* "Peace be upon him": ( - A.S.) - this expression follows after naming any prophet other than Muhammad, or one of the archangels (i.e. Jibreel, Mikaeel, etc.)
* "May Allah bless him and grant him peace.": ( - S.A.W. or SAAW) - this expression follows specifically after saying the name of the last prophet of Islam, Muhammad. 
In Arabic these salutations are called salawāt, and are abbreviated by some with the use of SAW (in accordance with the Arabic words sallallahou alayhi wasallam) or PBUH (which stands for Peace be upon him in English). However, this practice is considered to be controversial among senior Islamic scholars who disagree with this use on the basis that it demonstrates a lack of respect and laziness.From Al-Fayrooza-abaadee's book As-Salaatu wal-Bushr, as quoted in Mu'jam Al-Manaahee Al-Laf-thiyyah (p.351)the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad (#5088, 9/105)from a handwritten answer provided by the shaykh Wasee Allaah 'Abbaas, file no. AAWA004, dated 1423/6/24
The phrase is also encoded as a ligature at Unicode codepoint U+FDFA .
==Qur'anic evidence for asking the blessings on Muhammad==
In the translation of the meanings of the Qur'an in Surah 33 entitled Al-Ahzab (The Confederates), ayah (verse) 56:
The Islamic scholar, ibn Kathir, entitled the section in his tafsir (i.e., explanation of the Qur'an), the Tafsir ibn Kathir, regarding this verse, The Command to say Salah upon the Prophet (Muhammad).
This point is further founded in the saying by Muhammad that, This was recorded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his Musnad.
==Hadith evidence for asking the blessing on Muhammad==
The evidence for sending Salah on Muhammad is not limited to the Qur'an. It is also found in hadith about Muhammad. Examples include:
Al-Tirmidhi recorded that Abu Hurairah said: 
Al-Tirmidhi said that this hadith was, "Hasan gharib" (Good but only reported once).
In Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawood, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, and Al-Sunan al-Sughra (Sunan al-Nasa'i), four of the six major Sunni hadith collections, recorded that Abu Hurairah said, 
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal reported in his Musnad that the companion of Muhammad, Abu Talha ibn Thabit said: 
The isnad (chain of narrators) of this hadith is good.
It was reported by Razin ibn Mu'awiyah in his book Jami al-Usool that Muhammad said: 
==Commentary regarding abbreviating the Salah on Muhammad==
Many of Islamic scholars have instructed Muslims not to abbreviate sending the Salah on Muhammad. Shaykh Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Baaz, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia said regarding the issue: 
==Terms used for those other than Muhammad==
Ahmad Bayhaqi reports that Abu Hurairah said that Muhammad said: 
The scholar of hadith, Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, said this hadith is hasan (good) in his book Saheeh al-Jama'at'. (See hadith number 3782).
When mentioning sahaba (the companions of Muhammad), radhi Allahu anhu (for males) and radhi Allahu anha (for females) are used by Sunnis; they mean may Allah be pleased with him or her respectively. The phrase is sometimes also used after mentioning other names including that of Jesus and Moses, but the term عليه سلام aleyhi salaam, "On him be peace" is more common. See for example the letter from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, to George W. Bush: "Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ (PBUH), the great Messenger of God, Feel obliged to respect human rights ..."
==See also==
*Islamic views of Muhammad
*Dala'il al-Khayrat
*Islamic honorifics
*Honorifics for the dead in Judaism#Peace be upon him
==References==
Category:Islamic terms
Category:Muhammad
Category:Islamic honorifics
Category:Arabic words and phrases
ar:صلى الله عليه وسلم
az:(s)
bs:SallaAllahu alejhi we sellem
de:Islamische Eulogie
fa:صلوات
fr:Eulogie
it:Pbsl
ms:Selawat
nl:Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
ru:Салла Ллаху алей-хи ва-саллам
sv:SAW