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Islamic honorifics areArabic phrases, abbreviations, and titles that mostly appear asprefixes before orsuffixes after the names of people who have had a special mission fromGod in theIslamic world or have done important work towards these missions.^[1] In Islamic writings, these honorific prefixes and suffixes come before and after the names of all theprophets and messengers (of whom there are 124,000 in Islam, the last of whom is the ProphetMuhammad),^[2] theImams (theTwelve Imams inShia Islam), theinfallibles inShia Islam and the prominent individuals who followed them.^[3][4][5][6] In theIslamic world, giving these respectful prefixes and suffixes is atradition.^[5]

Among the most important honorific prefixes used areHadhrat (حَضرَت,lit. 'a special person in the sight ofGod, a person who has a special mission from God, holiness, sainthood, excellency, majesty').^[7][8][9] andImam (اِمام,lit. 'a person who has a special position with God, a person who receives religious guidance from God to convey to people, an Islamic leadership position, leader, fugleman, headman, pontiff, primate')^{[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]}

Among the most important honorific suffixes used are«صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْه» (lit. 'May God's blessings and peace be upon him') and«صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِه» (lit. 'May God's blessings and peace be upon him andhis household'), which these two suffix phrases used specifically for the Islamic prophetMuhammad in Islamic world, its abbreviation is also given in parentheses as«ص» in Arabic and "PBUH" in English after the name of theProphetMuhammad.^{[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]} And the two suffix phrases«عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَام» (lit. 'Peace be upon him', for male persons) and«عَلَيْهَا ٱلسَّلَام» (lit. 'Peace be upon her', for female persons) are used when the name of each ofthe fourteen infallibles saints is mentioned or written in Islamic world and the most especially in theShia Islam world,^[30] its abbreviation is also given in parentheses as«ع» in Arabic and "AS" in English after the name ofthe fourteen infallibles.^{[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]} And also the two suffix phrases«رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ» (lit. 'God be pleased with him', for male persons) and«رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهَا» (lit. 'God be pleased with her', for female persons) are used when the name of each ofthe companions of the Prophet Muhammad is mentioned or written in Islamic world and the most especially in theSunni Islam world,^[41] its abbreviation is also given in parentheses as«ر» in Arabic and "RA" in English after the name ofthe companions of the Prophet Muhammad.^{[42][43][44][45][46][47][48]}

These glorifying expressions are also used forGod Himself and His angels. Generally, for His angels, the phrase«عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَام» (lit. 'Peace be upon him') is commonly used, and forGod, usually His perfection attributes are used, such as the suffix«جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ» (lit. 'The most exalted').^[49][50][51]

Islam uses a number of conventionally complimentary phrases wishing-well or praising religiously-esteemed figures includingGod (Allah),Muhammad (Messenger of God),^[52] Muhammad's companions (sahaba), family (Ahl al-Bayt), otherIslamic prophets and messengers,angels, and revered persons. InTwelver Shi'ism, honorifics are used with theTwelve Imams.^[53]

Also, Islamic honorifics are referred to asSalawāt (صَلَوات,lit. 'Blessings of God') in the shape of«اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَی مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّد» (lit. 'OAllah, blessMuhammad andthe family of Muhammad')^[54] and also inShia Islam in the shape of«اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَی مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّد و عَجِّل فَرَجَهُم» (lit. 'OAllah, blessMuhammad andthe family of Muhammad and hasten their relief'),^[55] inArabic too, which their meaning is equal to the phrase«خداوندا بر محمد و خاندانش رحمت فرست و فرجشان را نزدیک بفرما» (lit. 'O God, blessMuhammad andthe Progeny of Muhammad, and hastentheir alleviation') inPersian language^[56] which meaning requesting«درود» (lit. 'Peace') fromGod forMuhammad andhis household inUrdu language too.^[57]

Islamic honorifics are not abbreviated inArabic-script languages (e.g.,Arabic,Persian,Urdu)^[58] given the rarity of acronyms and abbreviations in those languages, however, these honorifics are often abbreviated in other languages such as English,Spanish, andFrench. Common examples of these abbreviations include PBUH ('Peace be Upon Him')^[59] and SWT (subhanahu wa-ta'ala, 'Glorified and Exalted').^[60][61] Though these honorifics may be abbreviated in writing, they are never abbreviated in speech. Abbreviations often vary inletter case and use ofperiods.^[62][63]

Honorifics, in Arabic or non-Arabic languages, can be written in multiple formats:^[64][65]

1. Arabic text with Islamic honorifics
   • Example: "لقد شارك رسول اللهصلى الله عليه وسلم كلام اللهسبحانه وتعالى كما أنزله عليه الملك جبريلعليه السلام مع صاحبه الوفي أبو بكر الصديقرَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ"
2. English text with Islamic honorifics inromanized Arabic
   • Example: "The Messenger of God (ṣallā -llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) shared the word of Allah (subḥānahu wa-taʿālā) as revealed to him by the angel Jibril (ʿalayhi as-salām) with his loyal companion, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (raḍiya 'llāhu 'anhu)."
3. English text with unabbreviated Islamic honorifics
   • Example: "The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) shared the word of Allah (glorified and exalted) as revealed to him by the angel Jibril (peace be upon him) with his loyal companion, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (Allah be pleased with him)."
4. English text with abbreviated Islamic honorifics
   • Example: "The Messenger of God (PBUH) shared the word of Allah (SWT) as revealed to him by the angel Jibril (AS) with his loyal companion, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA)."

Following the mention of God (Allah), including bypronoun (e.g., 'him' or 'his'), or by one of thenames bestowed upon him, one of the below honorifics are said or written:^[66][67][68]

Muhammad's name, reference to him through a pronoun (e.g., 'his' or 'him'), or the use of one of his titles (e.g., 'the messenger of Allah') is followed by one of the below honorifics. The honorific "Blessings of Allah be upon him as well as peace" is the most widely used. The use of the word "blessings" (ṣallā,صَلَّى) can be used for all Islamic prophets (and Shia Imams) equally, however it is almost exclusively used with Muhammad.^[69][70][71]

Honorifics used for Muhammad's companions (aṣ-Ṣaẖābah) ask for Allah's pleasure with them. Muhammad's companions include men (Abu Bakr,Umar,Ali, etc.) and women (e.g.,Fatima bint Muhammad,Aisha bint Abu Bakr,Asma bint Abu Bakr, etc.), and are accorded the properly gendered honorifics.^[72]

Some honorifics apply to the archangels (Jibril,Mikhail, etc.) as well as any other Islamic prophets preceding Muhammad (e.g.,Isa,Musa,Ibrahim etc.). A group of modern scholars fromImam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Yemen, and Mauritania has issued fatwa that the angels should be invoked with blessing ofalayhi al-salām, which also applied to human prophets and messengers.^[73] This fatwa was based on the ruling fromIbn Qayyim al-Jawziyya.^[73][74][75]

Some major hadith collections such asSahih al-Bukhari,Sunan Abi Dawud, andSunan al-Tirmidhi include narrations where members of theAhl al-Bayt (the family of Muhammad), includingAli,Fatima,Hasan, andHusayn, are mentioned with ʿalayhi/ʿalayhā/ʿalayhim al-salām.^{[76][77][78][79][80][better source needed]}

InShia Islam, Muhammad's progeny, referred to asAhl al-Bayt (Arabic:أَهْل ٱلْبَيْت,lit. 'people of the house'), are addressed with the same honorifics as messengers.^[81][82]

Some honorifics apply to highly-revered Islamic scholars and people thought to be of high spiritual rank. When that person has died, honorifics ask for Allah's mercy upon or pleasure with him or her. When that person is still living, honorifics customarily ask for Allah's preservation or relief.^[83][84]

Certain expressions are appended after the names of individuals portrayed in reliable sources as persistent opponents of the ProphetMuḥammad and, after him, of theAhl al-Bayt (the Prophet's family). Qur'anic verses such as Q 33:57 ("Indeed, those who harm Allah and His Messenger—Allah has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter…") and Q 111 onAbu Lahab provide the textual basis, along with hadith like "Whoever angers Fāṭima angers me" (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim). In Shia Islam this is formalized undertabarrāʾ (disassociation from the enemies of God and the Prophet's household), while Sunni exegetes and historians also record hostile figures, even if they do not prescribe ritual cursing.^{[85][86][87][88]}

• Abu Lahab — uncle of the Prophet, condemned explicitly in Qur'an 111.^[89]

• Abu Jahl (ʿAmr b. Hishām) — persecutor of early Muslims, remembered for violence against the Prophet's kin and companions (Sunni sīra).^[90]

• ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb — central atSaqīfa in the post-Prophetic succession; Sunni tradition reveres him as the second caliph. Sunni chronicles also preserve reports of his threat to burn the house where ʿAlī and Fāṭima were, and of a forceful demand for bayʿa: al-Ṭabarī and al-Balādhurī narrate that ʿUmar came to the house with a group and that Fāṭima confronted him.^[91][92] (A later work attributed to the Sunni author Ibn Qutayba,al-Imāma wa-l-Siyāsa, adds more detail; its authorship is disputed and is therefore cited with attribution.)^[93] These episodes are linked in Shia memory to Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ's suffering and early death.

• Final illness and succession dispute — Sunni collections record that during his last illness, the Prophet requested writing materials but ʿUmar said: “The Book of Allah is sufficient for us” (Calamity of Thursday).^[94] Shia sources narrate that this prevented the Prophet from putting into writing theḥadīth al-thaqalayn ("the Book of Allah and my progeny"), which they view as establishing ʿAlī's succession. Shia reports also accuse ʿĀʾisha and Ḥafṣa of poisoning; Sunni tradition attributes his death to illness possibly aggravated by the Khaybar poison.^[95][96][97]

• ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr — led the coalition againstʿAlī at theBattle of the Camel; both Sunni and Shia sources record her battlefield role (evaluated differently). Sunni chronicles also note her objection toal-Ḥasan's burial beside the Prophet;^[98] Shia literature further reports that she rejoiced at news of ʿAlī's death.^[99] For an overview, see Brill's entry "Jamal."^[100]

• Talha ibn Ubayd Allah andal-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām — Companions who fought at Jamal against ʿAlī.^[101]

• Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam — instigator at Jamal, later Umayyad ruler.^[102]

• Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān — opposed ʿAlī at theBattle of Siffin and consolidated Umayyad power; Shia sources additionally link him to orchestrating ʿAlī's assassination via agents in Shām.^[103][104]

• ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ — ally of Muʿāwiya; pivotal in the arbitration after Ṣiffīn.^[105]

• Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya — ruler during theBattle of Karbala, under whose authorityal-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, his family, and companions were killed. Sunni chronicles (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr) and Shia sources agree on the massacre; Shia memory also emphasizes the captivity and parading of Ḥusayn's women and children—including his daughterSakinah—throughKufa andDamascus.^[106][107]

• ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād — Umayyad governor of Kūfa who directed the suppression of Ḥusayn and the captivity of his family (Sunni chronicles).^[108]

• ʿUmar ibn Saʿd — commander of Kufan forces at Karbalāʾ, under whom Ḥusayn and his companions were slain (Sunni and Shia sources).^[109][110]

• Shimr ibn Dhi'l-Jawshan — commander at Karbalāʾ, traditionally identified as the killer of Ḥusayn; Sunni chronicles narrate his battlefield role, while Shia texts add details of post-battle abuse of the captives.^[111][112]

• Ibn Muljam (ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muljam) — assassin of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (universally reported); Shia sources portray him as a murder-for-hire acting under influence from the Umayyad court of Shām.^{[113][114][115]}

• al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf — Umayyad governor remembered for severe repression of Alid partisans, including executions of descendants of the Prophet (Sunni biographical literature).^[116]

In Shia communities, the downfall of these figures is ritually remembered in the annual commemoration ofEid al-Zahrāʾ (9 Rabīʿ al-Awwal). The day not only marks relief from the oppression of the Ahl al-Bayt but also the conclusion of the traditional "two months and eight days" of mourning that begins in Muḥarram. This mourning recalls the killing ofal-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī and his family, and the subsequent captivity of his women and children—including his daughterSakinah—who were paraded through the markets ofKufa andDamascus. In Shia devotional memory, Eid al-Zahrāʾ is described as the first occasion after Karbalāʾ when the surviving family of Ḥusayn smiled again, upon hearing of the downfall of those held responsible for his death.^[120][121]

The honorifics for Muhammad are enjoined by Suratal-Ahzab:^[122]

إِنَّ ٱللّٰهَ وَمَلَـٰٓىِٕكَتَهُۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ ۚ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ صَلُّوا۟ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا۟ تَسْلِيمًا‎
'Surely Allah (God) and His angels bless the Prophet; O you who believe! Send blessings on him and salute him with a (becoming) salutation.'
^{[Quran 33:56 (Translated by Shakir)]}

Al-Tirmidhi recorded thatAbu 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 themonth 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 wasḥasan gharib, "good but only reported once".^[123]

InSahih Muslim,Sunan Abu Dawood,Jami' at-Tirmidhi andal-Sunan al-Sughra, four of thesix 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.'"^[124]

Ahmad ibn Hanbal reported in hisMusnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal that the Companion of Muhammad, Abu Talha ibn Thabit, said:^[125][126]

One morning the Messenger of Allah was in a cheerful mood and looked happy. They said, "O Messenger of Allah, this morning you are in a cheerful mood and look happy." He said, "Of course, just now someone [an angel] came to me from my Lord [Allah] and said, 'Whoever among your Ummah sends Salaam upon you, Allah will record for him ten good deeds and will erase for him ten evil deeds, and will raise his status by ten degrees, and will return his greeting with something similar to it.'"

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."^[127]

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 inMusnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal.^[128]

Anas bin Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: 'Whoever sends salah upon me once, Allah (SWT) will send salah upon him tenfold, and will erase ten sins from him, and will raise him ten degrees in status.'"

Scholars of theSalafi branch of Islam practiced inSaudi Arabia have instructed their followers not to abbreviate thesalawat upon Muhammad. For example,Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, theGrand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, said:^[130]

As it is prescribed to send prayers upon the Prophet (peace and prayers of Allah be upon him) in prayer when saying thetashahhud, and it is prescribed when givingkhutbahs, sayingDu'a and praying for forgiveness, and after theAdhan, and when entering and exiting the mosque, and when mentioning him in other circumstances, so it is more important to do so when writing his name in a book, letter, article and so on. So it is prescribed to write the prayers in full so as to fulfil the command that Allah has given to Muslims, and so that the reader will remember to say the prayers when he reads it. So one should not write the prayers on the Prophet (peace and prayers of Allah be upon him) in short form such as writing (S) or (SAWS) etc, or other forms that some writers use, because that is going against the command of Allah in His Book, where He says (interpretation of the meaning):

صَلُّوا۟ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا۟ تَسْلِيمًا‎^[131]

Send blessings on him and salute him with a (becoming) salutation."^{[Quran 33:56 (Translated by Shakir)]}

And that (writing it in abbreviated form) does not serve that purpose and is devoid of the virtue of writing "salla Allaahu 'alayhi wa salaam (May Allah send prayers and peace upon him)" in full. Moreover the reader may not take notice of it and may not understand what is meant by it. It should also be noted that the symbol used for it is regarded as disapproved by the scholars, who warned against it.^{[citation needed][year needed]}

• Honorifics for the dead in Judaism
• Honorifics in Judaism
• Subhanahu wa ta'ala
• Salawat

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