Regarding keeping the Prophet’s (sa) respect and sanctity, the Quran says: “Allah sends His Salat (graces, honors, blessings, mercy, etc.) on the Prophet (Muhammad (sa)) and also His angels too (ask Allâh to bless him). Oh you who believe! Send your Salat on him (Muhammad (sa)) and obey his commands.”[1] This ayah reveals the high rank and position of the Prophet (sa) before Allah, to the extent that He sends and His angels ask Him to send His grace and blessings onto him while demanding everybody else to join in sending peace (salam) and blessings onto him.

A variety of benefits have been mentioned in the ahadith for reciting salawat. One of the Imams Baqir (as) or Sadiq (as) states: “On the day of judgment there is nothing heavier and more prominent than salawat on the Prophet and his progeny, and on that day a person will be brought forward, his actions and deeds placed on the scale and they will show to be very little, then the reward for the salawat he has recited appears on the scale and that’s when it becomes full and heavy.”[2]

In the ahadith of the Imams (as), it has been emphasized to recite salawat when mentioning the Prophet’s name to the extent where reciting salawat in the middle of prayer when hearing the Prophet’s name is recommended.

In a hadith from Imam Baqir (as), it has been narrated: “Without doubt the Prophet (sa) has ten names, five of which - meaning Muhammad, Ahmad, Abdullah, Yasin, Nun - have been mentioned in the Quran and five of which have not - namely; Fatih, Khatam, Kafi, Muqfi and Haashir.”[3]

Therefore, one of the names of the Prophet’s progeny will be “Aal-Yasin”. There is a ziyarat that can be found in supplication books named “Ziyarat Aal-Yasin” which is considered to be one of Imam Mahdi’s (at) letters.[4]

A section in ayah 130 of Surah Saffaat is read, in one version of Qara’at (recitation), as Aal-Yasin; “سلام علی آل یاسین”. Following this ayah Imam Sadeq (as) narrates from his ancestors that Imam Ali (as) said: “Yasin is Muhammad (sa) and we are Aal-Yasin.”[5]

Imam Reza (as) stated: “God has given Muhammad (sa) and his progeny (sa) a privilege that no one can bear and understand except those who are deep thinkers which is that God merely bestows His honor and blessings onto His prophets, for example: he says “May salam (honor, grace and blessing) be upon Noah among the worldly”[6] and “May salam be upon Ibrahim” and “May salam be upon Moses and Aaron” but He never maintains: May salam be upon the progeny of Noah or May salam be upon the progeny of Ibrahim etc. Yet when it comes to the Prophet of Islam He declares “May salam be upon the progeny of Yasin” – meaning the Progeny of Muhammad (sa).[7]

According to the reasons and ahadith mentioned above, Yasin is one of Prophet’s (sa) names and reciting salawat after hearing one of his names is mustahab; although there is no specific hadith regarding the opening verse of Surah Yasin in terms of it being recommended to recite salawat after hearing it, but according to the general rulings mentioned before we can deduce the recommendation of reciting salawat after hearing this verse.

It has also been narrated in some ahadith that the interpretation of “امام مبین” in the twelfth verse of Surah Yasin is to be Imam Ali (as). It has been narrated from Imam Baqir (as) that he said: “When this verse was revealed Umar and Abu-Bakr stood up and asked if it means the Torah? He responded: no, then they asked whether it meant the Bible? Once again he responded: no, then they asked whether the ayah was about the Quran? For the last time his holiness responded: no, in the meantime Imam Ali (as) was walking towards the Prophet of God (sa) and once the Prophet laid eyes on him he said: امام مبین is this man, he is the imam that God has gathered the knowledge of everything within.”[8]

In line with the said hadith, reciting salawat after reciting this verse is recommended despite the fact that we do not have a specific hadith stating that it is recommended to recite salalwat after hearing this verse.