Please help me know the significance of invoking blessings upon the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) according to Hadith. Moreover, please let me know if it is correct to recite in set of 11 times (e.g. 11 x 11, … etc.) after your Du'a?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

When Allah invokes blessings upon his Prophet and believers, He praises them in front of His angels. When the Angels invoke blessings upon the Prophet and the believers, they ask Allah to forgive them. When the believers invoke blessings upon the Prophet and fellow believers, they supplicate Allah for them. Allah and His Angels invoke blessings on the Prophet and He ordered the believers to do the same. Allah Says (what means): {Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace.} [Quran 33: 56]

There are many virtues in invoking blessings upon the Prophet reported in authentic Ahadeeth. Also there are many weak and fabricated Ahadeeth on this subject made up by storytellers and those who exaggerate the status of the Prophet from among the Sufis and others.

Imam Ibn Hajar collected some authentic and sound Ahadeeth in this concern and said that they are sufficient and there is no need for such weak and fabricated Ahadeeth. He wrote in his book Fath al-Bari: “There are many sound Ahadeeth proving the excellence of invoking blessings upon the Prophet . Imam Al-Bukhari does not mention them in his Saheeh, while Imam Muslim reported in his Saheeh from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said: “Everyone who invokes a blessing on me will receive ten blessings from Allah.”

Abu Burdah and Abu Talhah narrated that the Prophet said: “Everyone from my Ummah who sincerely invokes blessing upon me, Allah will shower ten blessings upon him, raise him ten grades, write ten good deeds for him, and erase ten of his sins” [The chain of this Hadeeth is sound and Imam Ibn Hibbaan graded it as Saheeh].

Ibn Mas’ood narrated that the Prophet said: “The person who deserves most my company on the Day of Judgment is the one who invokes most blessings upon me.” [Imam at-Tirmithi graded it as Hassan and Ibn Hibban graded it as Saheeh]

The same Hadeeth is reported from Al-Bayhaqi from Abu Umaamah with the following wording: “The blessings invoked by my Ummah are presented to me every Friday and the one who invokes most is the closest to me.” [The chain of this Hadeeth is tolerable]

There are other Ahadeeth that encourage invoking many blessings on the Prophet on Friday, such as the Hadeeth of Aws ibn Aws as reported from Ahmad and Abu Dawood; Ibn Hibban and al-Haakim graded it as sound]

Ali reported that the Prophet said: “The niggardly one is the one before whom I am mentioned and he does not invoke blessings upon me.” [At-Tirmithi and al-Nassaa'i and its chain is not less than Hasan]

Ibn ‘Abbaas narrated that the Prophet said: “The one who forgets invoking blessings upon me misses his way to Paradise.” [Ibn Maajah]

Another Hadeeth reads: “May that person be humbled in whose presence my name is mentioned but he does not invoke blessings on me.” [At-Tirmithi]

Another Hadeeth reads: “The one before whom I am mentioned, and does not invoke blessings upon me, then he dies and enters the Fire, may Allah keep him that way.” [At-Tirmithi; Al-Haakim graded it As Saheeh]

Imam At-Tabaraani  reported from Jaabir that the Prophet said: “The one who does not invoke blessings upon me when I am mentioned before him would become a miserable person.”

There is a Mursal Hadeeth reported by Abdur-Razzaaq that reads: “It is impolite not to invoke blessings upon me when I am mentioned.”

Ubayy ibn Ka'b said that a person came to the Prophet and said: “O Messenger of Allah! I invoke Allah's peace and blessing upon you copiously; how much time of my prayer should I spend for this?' He said: 'As much time as you think proper.' I said: 'A quarter of my time?' He said: 'As much as you wish; but it would be better for you, if you could devote more time', till he said: 'Shall I devote all the time of my prayer - i.e. shall I supplicate only for you, not supplicating for me - He said: 'Then it will take care of all your worries, and your sins will be forgiven.” [Ahmad and others with a good chain]

Ibn Hajar said: “The above sound Ahadeeth are enough for us and sufficient, so we are not in need of other weak and fabricated Ahadeeth.” [End of quote]

We do not know any authentic evidence for invoking blessings eleven times after Du'a. Therefore, adhering to a particular number without evidence is an innovation and every innovation is an aberration.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 84530 and 82212.

Allah knows best.