Question # 602: What is the opinion of scholars about using abbreviations or short forms of Islamic expressions/terms like ASAK (As-Salaamu Alaykum), ISA (In Sha Allah), among others, on e-communication channels like WhatsApp, emails, etc.?
Bismi-llahi r-raḥmani r-raḥīm,
Assalamu ‘laikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
All praise and thanks are due to Allah (سبحانه و تعالى), and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم).
Dear questioner,
First of all, we implore Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) to help us serve His cause and render our work for His sake.
Shorter Answer: Abbreviating the salawat upon the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) (writing SAWS or PBUH instead of the full wording) is described as makrooh or not legislated by Islamic scholars. Abbreviating the salaam greeting (writing ASAK) is described as an innovation to be avoided, on the grounds that it departs from how the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) himself wrote the greeting, forfeits some of the reward tied to the fuller greeting, and may fail to serve as a genuine supplication for the person receiving it. For initialisms such as ISA and JAK, a general principle against abbreviating religious or legislated wording in electronic communication can be applied, presenting this as a plausible extension. A believer who wants to be cautious, and whose situation allows the extra few seconds of typing, would do well to write these phrases out in full rather than reach for the initials.
Long Answer: We will look into at least three phrases, as each of them has its own textual and scholarly background, and the approved sources say considerably more about some of them than others:
- Abbreviating the Salawat Upon the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) (SAWS, PBUH)
Sending salah (an invocation of blessing) and salaam (a salutation of peace) upon the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) whenever his name is mentioned is grounded directly in the Qur’an: “Indeed, Allah showers His blessings upon the Prophet, and His angels pray for him. O believers! Invoke Allah’s blessings upon him, and salute him with worthy greetings of peace.” (Soorah al-Ahzab, 33:56).
The specific question of writing this out as a symbol or abbreviation, such as SAWS, PBUH, or the Arabic صلعم, rather than in full, has a long paper trail among the classical scholars. Imam al-Suyuti, a Shafi’i jurist, addresses this directly in his hadith methodology work, Tadrib al-Rawi fi Sharh Taqrib al-Nawawi, as mentioned by Shaykh Ibn Baaz’s in his own risalah (treatise) on this exact question: “…it is disliked to symbolize it in writing with one letter or two letters, such as one who writes (صلعم); rather, one should write them out in their complete form”
From a Hanbali or Salafi angle, Shaykh Abd al-Aziz ibn Baaz addressed this question directly and repeatedly in his own fatwa sessions. Asked about writing (صلعم) or (ص) for the salawat, he replied: “This is not appropriate. Whoever writes or utters the name of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) should invoke the full blessing, saying “(صلى الله عليه و سلم)”, rather than using “صلعم” or just the letter “Sad” (ص). Laziness is not appropriate here; rather, the Sunnah and the prescribed practice is to write the invocation explicitly”. Asked the same question on another occasion, he answered that at the very least the practice is severely disliked: “At the least, this is a case of severe dislike (makrooh)”.
In another fatwa, Shaykh Abd al-Aziz ibn Baaz said: As it is prescribed to send blessings upon the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) in prayer when saying the tashahhud, and it is prescribed when giving khutbahs, saying du’aa and praying for forgiveness, and after the adhan, 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 blessing in full so as to fulfill the command that Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) has given to us, and so that the reader will remember to say the blessing when he reads it. So we should not write the blessing on the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) in short form such as writing (S) or (صلى الله عليه و سلم) etc, or other forms that some writers use, because that is going against the command of Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) in His Book…”
A reader asked the scholars whether alhamdulillah could be abbreviated as “hmd” on Facebook. The fatwa answered by citing the classical hadith scholar Ibn al-Salah’s point that dhikr phrases should not be abbreviated in writing, and applied it directly: “It is not appropriate to abbreviate alhamdulillah in the manner mentioned; the scholars have stated the prohibition of this regarding writing the salawat upon the Prophet, and the apparent sense of their words treats the two matters the same.” Further, “… the same applies to praising Allah (سبحانه و تعالى), whenever His name is mentioned, such as writing Azza wa-Jal (Mighty and Majestic), Tabaraka wa-Ta’ala (Blessed and Exalted), and similar phrases…”
However, no approved source calls abbreviating the salawat haraam outright. The consistent language across these sources is makrooh (disliked) or ghayr mashru’ (not legislated, not the recommended practice), occasionally intensified, as with Ibn Baz’s own “severe dislike.”
- Abbreviating the Salaam Greeting (ASAK)
The greeting of salaam is itself addressed in the Qur’an: “And when you are greeted, respond with a better greeting or at least similarly. Surely Allah is a ˹vigilant˺ Reckoner of all things.” (Soorah an-Nisa, 4:86).
The Islamic greeting is “As-salaamu ‘Alaykum…”; writing it in an abbreviated form consists of many prohibitions; some of them are as follows:
It is an innovation; when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) wrote a letter to Heraclius, he wrote: “As-salaamu ‘Alaa manittaba’ al-Huda” (peace be upon those who follow the Guidance).” (Sahih Al-Bukhari) The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) did not write the abbreviations. He (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: “Whoever innovates anything in this matter of ours that is not part of it, will have it rejected.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim). The wording according to another narration is, “Whoever does any action that is not in accordance with this matter of ours (i.e., Sunnah), will have it rejected.”
[Therefore,] using the abbreviation “ASAK” leads to the desertion of the expression that is legislated in Islam. One does not get the reward that he would get had he used the actual words of greeting. A Muslim has to search for what is better as far as the matter of reward is concerned. It is reported by Imam Ahmad and others that a man came to the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) and said, “As-Salaam ‘Alaykum” and sat. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said, “He will have ten rewards.” Another man came and said, “As-Salaam ‘Alaykum wa rahmatullah” and sat. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said, “He will have twenty rewards.” Then another man came and said, “As-Salaam ‘Alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu”, and sat there. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said, “He will have thirty rewards.” The narration proves that the more the words of greeting are complete and perfect, the higher and greater is the reward.
Actually, by greeting one is supplicating for the person whom one meets. This purpose could not be achieved by the use of abbreviations; perhaps the greeted person may not pay any attention to such words, etc. [As seen above,] Muslim scholars dislike using abbreviations in place of the words of invoking blessing on the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم). The matter of greeting is also like the invocation of the blessings on the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم). Qur’anic style and Islamic teachings reject using the abbreviation “ASAK”. So, it should be avoided.
- In Sha Allah, JazakAllah Khayran, and Other Initialisms (ISA, JAK)
The phrase “In sha Allah” has its own Quranic grounding, in an instruction given to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) after he once answered a question without attaching the phrase, and revelation on the matter was delayed as a result: “And never say of anything, ‘Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,’ except [when adding], ‘If Allah wills'” (Soorah al-Kahf, 18:23 to 24). This establishes the weight of the phrase itself. On its own, it does not settle whether shortening it in writing to ISA carries the same ruling discussed above for the salawat and the greeting. However, the phrase “and similar legislated phrases” is broad enough that it could plausibly extend to In sha Allah and JazakAllah khayran, as expressions of the same general character.
(The above reply is based on the following resources:
- islamqa.info
- islamweb.net
- binbaz.org.sa)
Allahu A’lam (Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) knows best) and all Perfections belong to Allah, and all mistakes belong to me alone. May Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) forgive me, Ameen.
Wassalaam
