Du’aa’ is suspended between heaven and earth until you send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

This hadeeth was narrated
by al-Tirmidhi (486) from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with
him) who said: “Du’aa’ is suspended between heaven and earth and none of it
is taken up until you send blessings upon your Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him).” Ibn Katheer said: Its isnaad is jayyid.
It was classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi. 

It was narrated by
al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah (2035) from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and he mentioned corroborating
reports, then he said: “In conclusion, when all these isnaads and
corroborating reports are taken into account, the hadeeth is hasan at the
very least, in sha Allaah.” 

What was narrated by
al-Tirmidhi is mawqoof, with an isnaad ending at ‘Umar, but it is regarded
as coming under the heading of marfoo’ (i.e., it may be regarded as
attributable to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him)). 

Al-Haafiz al-‘Iraaqi
said: 

Although this report is
mawqoof, such matters cannot be spoken of on the basis of personal opinion
(i.e., the Sahaabah did not speak on the basis of personal opinion on
matters of worship), rather this is a tawqeefi matter (i.e., we must adhere
to what is prescribed in the Qur’aan and Sunnah and not worship Allaah in
any way except that which has been prescribed), so it is regarded as coming
under the heading of marfoo’ (i.e., it may be regarded as attributable to
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)). Al-Qaadi Abu
Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi commented, after quoting these words from ‘Umar: ‘Umar
would not have said such a thing unless he had heard it from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), because this is not a
matter that can be worked out by means of human reasoning. 

This hadeeth indicates
that it is mustahabb to send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) when making du’aa’. 

It seems that this is not
a condition of du’aa’, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) did not do this in all his du’aa’s; rather it may be
understood that this is mustahabb. 

And the scholars have
stated that three categories of sending blessing upon the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) when making du’aa’. 

Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd said
in his book Tasheeh al-Du’aa’ (p. 23): 

The best category of
sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) is at the beginning of the du’aa’, in the middle and at the end.
It is like wings for the du’aa’ with which it soars up to the clouds of the
sky. 

The second category is
sending blessings upon him at the beginning and end of the du’aa’. 

The third category is
sending blessings upon him at the beginning. 

These categories were
also mentioned by Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) in his book
Jala’ al-Afhaam, p. 531-535. 

Al-Tirmidhi (3477)
narrated from Fadaalah ibn ‘Ubayd (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When any one
of you prays, let him begin by praising Allaah, then let him send blessings
upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), then let
him ask for whatever he wants.” 

Classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi. 

Al-Tabaraani narrated
that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood said: If any one of you wants to ask (of
Allaah), let him begin by praising Allaah as He deserves to be praised, then
let him send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), then let him ask after that, for that is more likely to be
answered. 

This was quoted by
al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 3204. 

Abu Sulaymaan al-Daaraani
said: Whoever wants to ask Allaah for what he needs, let him start by
sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), then ask for what he needs, then end his prayer with blessings
upon the Prophet, for his sending blessings upon the Prophet will be
accepted, and Allaah is too generous to refuse what comes in between. 

And Allaah knows best.