Three Forms of Worship in Three Words

What do taḥiyyāt, ṣalawāt and ṭayyibāt mean? Taḥiyyāt, in the Islamic literature, means ʿibādah qawliyyah: all the forms of worship produced from the tongue, from the lisān — all praises, all the forms of worship that come as a result of the tongue, of speech, which is bayān, an ability that Allah (swt) has given, so to speak, to mankind alone among the species that live on the earth at present. Any form of praise that comes out of the mouth is for Allah. That is qawlī worship. The second is ṭayyibāt, which is called ʿibādah māliyyah: worship produced as a result of wealth — our spending, our zakāh, our ṣadaqāt, our charities. That too is a form of worship. When something is given for the sake of Allah (swt), zakāh is worship; anything produced through wealth. Ṣalawāt, on the other hand, is called ʿibādah badaniyyah: worship produced by the rest of our bodily organs — rukūʿ, sujūd, all of these are ṣalawāt. That is why it is called ṣalawāt, the plural of the word ṣalāh: physical worship offered to Allah (swt). So everything possible was covered — the praise of Allah (swt) with the tongue, qawlī; with the body, badanī; and with wealth, māl. All forms of worship, every possible worship, is due to Allah (swt) alone. Then Allah (swt) gave salām to His Prophet (peace be upon him), greeting him with the greeting of Islam: as-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhā n-nabiyy.