All praise is for Allah Sub'hanahu wa Ta'ala and may His blessings, peace and favours descend in perpetuity on our beloved Prophet Muhammad al-Mustafa, Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam who is mercy for all the worlds.

I would like to express my gratitude and thanks, to:

*Sayyidi wa Imami, the Majestic Shaykh, Al-'Arif Billah Al-Habib Ahmad Mash-hur bin Taha al-Haddad, Rady Allahu 'Anhu. His smile sustains me through my life and his teaching to do things for the love of the beloved Prophet (Fee Hubb i'r Rasul, Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam) inspires us all;

*my grandfather Noormuhammad, and my grandmother 'Aisha who taught me how to live as a Muslim through example and who prayed for me that may Allah give me 'ilm u'n nafi' (useful knowledge);

*my mother Nurbai and my maternal grandmother Amina for their love, prayers and sacrifices;

*my father Osman who drew me towards 'ibadah, zikr and salawaat;

*Mama 'Aisha Khamisa for drawing me more and more towards the suhba (spiritual company) of al-Habib;

*my family for bearing with me patiently through the trials of life;

*Ustadh Muhammad Sharif Said al-Beidh and Ustadh Harith Swaleh, our Shaykhs in Kenya for their dua and moral suppport;

*Shaykh Muhammad Abubaker Bashuaib, Sayyid Mumtaz 'Ali Saheb, Shaykh Ahmad Dualle, Shaykh Mahdy 'Ali, brother Tahir 'Ali and Shaykh 'Umar 'Isa for encouragement, many helpful comments and help with Arabic translation;

*sister Maimuna Magre for typing earlier drafts of this book;

*brothers Yusuf Vhora, Umer Magre and Omar Butt for proofreading, and;

*brother Kassim Kasmani, our webmaster, for his dedication and commitment to quality.

May Allah Sub'hanahu wa Ta'ala reward all those who are striving to serve Muslims, Aameen.

I have benefited immensely from Qaari 'Abdul Haleem Elyasee's English translation of Mawlana Muhammad Elias Burney's Miskaat u's Salawaat (A Niche For Lit-Up Blessings). This has proved a very useful reference in translating some of the salawaat from the kutub (books) of salawaat.

Earlier drafts of some of these chapters were published in the following journals:

Iqra, The Islamic Journal, Memon Jamat Nairobi, Kenya.
The Message, World Islamic Mission, Karachi, Pakistan.
The Islamic Times, Raza Academy, Stockport, England.

Al-Fateha!