Ahmad ibn Hanbal reported in his "Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal" that the Companion of Muhammad, Abu Talha ibn Thabit, said:   Al-Bayhaqi reports that Abu Hurairah said that Muhammad said, "Send the Salaam on Allah's messengers and prophets for Allah sent them as He sent me." Scholars of the Salafi branch of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia have instructed their followers not to abbreviate the salawat upon Muhammad. For example, Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, said: