Quran Universe
37:181

وَسَلَٰمٌ عَلَى ٱلۡمُرۡسَلِينَ

Wasalamun AAala almursaleena

And peace upon the messengers.

Word by word
  1. وَسَلَٰمٌAnd peace be
  2. عَلَىupon
  3. ٱلۡمُرۡسَلِينَthe Messengers
As-Saffat · 37:181Makkah

And peace be upon all the messengers.

The greeting for every messenger in the surah

Who receives peace
Nuh, Ibrahim
Musa, Harun, Ilyas
Lut, Yunus
and all
the messengerspeace, here and hereafter
Why they receive it
what the deniers saidfalse
what the messengers saidsound, correct, true

Ibn Kathir explains this as the peace of Allah upon them in this world and the Hereafter, because what they say about their Lord is sound and true. He reports the Prophet ﷺ said: when you send salam on me, send salam on all the messengers, for I am one of the messengers.

You send salawat on the Prophet ﷺ after the adhan or in the tashahhud. Remember the others too. Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, Yunus. Each one carried the same message, and each deserves your greeting.

Other prophets are names from long ago, not people I greet.

Every messenger is part of my story, and Allah greets them all with peace.

Try this

Today say: peace be upon all the messengers, and think of one of them by name.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 37:180)

Glorified be your Lord, the Lord of Al-'Izzah! (He is free) from what they attribute unto Him (180)And Salam (peace!) be on the Messengers (181)And all the praises and thanks be to Allah, Lord of all that exists (182)

Allah glorified Himself and states that He is far above what the lying wrongdoers say about Him; glorified and sanctified and exalted be He far above what they say. Allah says:

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ

(Glorified be your Lord, the Lord of Al-'Izzah!) meaning, the Owner of might and power Whom none can resist.

عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ

((He is free) from what they attribute unto Him!) means, from what these lying fabricators say.

وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ

(And Salam be on the Messengers!) means, may the peace of Allah be upon them in this world and in the Hereafter, because what they say about their Lord is sound, correct and true.

وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

(And all the praises and thanks be to Allah, Lord of all that exists.) means, praise be to Him at the beginning and end of all things. Because Tasbih (glorification) implies a declaration of being free from all shortcomings, the two ideas appear together here and in many places in the Qur'an. Allah says:

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ - وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ - وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

(Glorified be your Lord, the Lord of Al-'Izzah! (He is free) from what they attribute unto Him! And Salam (peace!) be on the Messengers! And all the praises and thanks be to Allah, Lord of all that exists.) Sa'id bin Abi 'Arubah narrated that Qatadah said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

إِذَا سَلَّمْتُمْ عَلَيَّ، فَسَلِّمُوا عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ، فَأَنَا رَسُولٌ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ

(When you send Salam on me, send Salam on all the Messengers, for I am one of the Messengers.)" This was recorded by Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim.

Abu Muhammad Al-Baghawi recorded in his Tafsir that 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Whoever wants a greater measure of reward on the Day of Resurrection, let him say at the end of any gathering,

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ - وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ - وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

(Glorified be your Lord, the Lord of honor, glory and power! (He is free) from what they attribute unto Him! And Salam (peace!) be on the Messengers! And all the praises and thanks be to Allah, Lord of all that exists)."

Other Hadiths concerning the expiation for any wrongs that may have occurred during a gathering prescribe saying the words: "Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise. There is no God except You; I seek your forgiveness and I repent to you. " I have written a chapter dealing exclusively with this topic.

This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat As-Saffat. And Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, knows best.