It was recited: "And His angels" with a raised pronunciation, as an addition to the position of "Indeed" and its subject, which is evident according to the Kufans. The reasoning for this among the Basrians is that the predicate is omitted due to the indication of "they pray upon him". "Say the prayer upon the Messenger and peace." Its meaning is: to invoke that Allah has mercy upon him and grants him peace. If you say: Is the prayer upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ obligatory or recommended? I say: Rather, it is obligatory, and they have differed regarding the condition of its obligation. Some of them made it obligatory whenever his mention occurs. In the hadith: "Whoever I am mentioned in his presence and he does not pray upon me, he will enter the Fire; may Allah distance him." [Narrated by Ibn Hibban through the chain of Muhammad ibn Umar from Abu Salamah from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet ﷺ ascended the pulpit and said: "Ameen, Ameen, Ameen." He said: "Indeed, Gabriel came to me and mentioned the hadith in it: 'And whoever I am mentioned in his presence and does not pray upon you, and dies, he will enter the Fire; may Allah distance him.'" There are also narrations from Malik ibn al-Huwairith in Ibn Hibban and al-Tabarani. And from Ibn Abbas in al-Tabarani, as well as from Jabir ibn Samurah and Abdullah ibn al-Harith ibn Juz' al-Zubaidi, and from Buraidah at Ishaq ibn Rahuyah, and from Ammar ibn Yasir at al-Bazzar, and from Jabir ibn Abdullah at al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu'ab.] It is narrated that it was said: O Messenger of Allah, what do you think of Allah's saying: "Indeed, Allah and His angels pray upon the Prophet"? He ﷺ said: "This is from the hidden knowledge, and if you had not asked me about it, I would not have informed you. Indeed, Allah has assigned to me two angels, so whenever I am mentioned before a believing servant and he prays upon me, those two angels say: 'May Allah forgive you.' And Allah and His angels respond to those two angels: 'Ameen.' And whenever I am mentioned before a believing servant and he does not pray upon me, those two angels say: 'May Allah not forgive you.' And Allah and His angels respond to those two angels: 'Ameen.'" [Narrated by al-Tabarani, Ibn Mardawayh, and al-Thalabi from the hadith of Hasan ibn Ali. In it is al-Hakam ibn Abdullah ibn Khathaf, who is considered weak.] Some of them said: It is obligatory in every gathering once, even if his mention is repeated, as has been said regarding the verse of prostration and the invocation for the sneezing person, and likewise in every supplication at its beginning and end. Some of them made it obligatory once in a lifetime, and likewise it was said regarding the declaration of the two testimonies. What is required by caution is to pray upon him at every mention, due to the reports [including the hadith of Abu Hurairah raised: "May the nose of a man be rubbed in dust who I am mentioned in his presence and he does not pray upon me." Narrated by al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Hibban, and there are reports from Ka'b ibn Ajzah narrated by al-Tabarani and al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu'ab. And from Jabir in al-Adab al-Mufrad by al-Bukhari, and in al-Tabarani al-Awsat. And from Abdullah ibn al-Harith ibn Juz' in the book of the virtue of praying upon the Prophet ﷺ by Ibn Abi Asim. And from the hadith of Ali, may Allah be pleased with him: "The miser is the one I am mentioned in his presence and he does not pray upon me." Narrated by al-Tirmidhi through the chain of Imarah ibn Ghaziyah from Abdullah ibn Ali ibn Hussein from his father from Hussein ibn Ali from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, and narrated by al-Nasa'i and Ibn Hibban from this chain without mentioning Ali. And al-Hakim narrated from this chain saying from Abdullah ibn Ali ibn Hussein from Abu Hurairah. And from the hadith of Anas raised: "Whoever I am mentioned in his presence should pray upon me; whoever prays upon me once, Allah prays upon him ten times." Narrated by al-Nasa'i. And from the hadith of Ibn Abbas - raised - "Whoever forgets to pray upon me has lost the way to Paradise." Narrated by Ibn Majah. There is another route from Hussein ibn Ali at al-Tabarani. Another at al-Bayhaqi in al-Qada' from the knowledge of Abu Hurairah, and another at Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Ya'la from Abu Dharr with the wording: "Indeed, the most misguided of people is the one I am mentioned in his presence and does not pray upon me." And from the hadith of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: "Supplication is suspended between the heavens and the earth; nothing ascends from it until the Prophet ﷺ is prayed upon." Narrated by al-Tirmidhi and al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu'ab from Ali similarly. And from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Amir ibn Rabi'ah from his father - raised - "Whoever prays upon me, the angels pray upon him as long as he prays upon me, so let him say a little or a lot of that." Narrated by Ibn Majah, and the hadiths regarding the virtue of praying upon the Prophet ﷺ are very numerous.] If you say: Is the prayer upon him in the prayer a condition for its permissibility or not? I say: Abu Hanifah and his companions do not see it as a condition. And from Ibrahim al-Nakha'i: They were satisfied with that - meaning the companions - with the Tashahhud, which is "Peace be upon you, O Prophet." As for al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, he made it a condition. If you say: What do you say about praying upon others? I say: The analogy is that it is permissible to pray upon every believer, due to His saying: "He is the One who prays upon you" and His saying: "And pray upon them; indeed, your prayer is a source of tranquility for them" and his ﷺ saying: "O Allah, pray upon the family of Abu Auf." [Agreed upon. It has been mentioned in Surah Al-Bara'ah.] However, the scholars have detailed this: If it is in a subordinate manner, like saying: "May Allah pray upon the Prophet and his family," there is no issue in it. But if one specifies another from the family as he specifies him, it is disliked, because that has become a symbol for mentioning the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and it leads to suspicion of rejection. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not stand in positions of suspicion." [Mentioned in Yusuf.]