Allah Prays for Muhammad

In a debate between Muhammad Hijab and David Wood, Hijab admitted, "Allah prays for Muhammad".

Prayer is defined as the act of communication with a higher power.  We pray to God, for worship, praise, confession, and supplication.  Muslims pray to Allah for similar such things.  Question, does it make sense for God to pray?

The word for prayers in Islam in Islam is “salat”.  Prayer is important for the Muslim.  Ritual prayer is one of the five pillars of Islam.  

Apparently, Allah sends prayers upon Muhammad:

“He it is Who sends salat (His blessings) on you, and His angels too (ask Allah to bless and forgive you)…"  Quran 33:43a, Hilali-Khan

The “He” in this verse is Allah.  The Arabic here is not actually “sends blessings” “yuṣallī” (يُصَلِّي) but it means “he prays”. 

He does it again later in the same surah.  Allah sends his salat on Muhammad, just as Muslims do their salat on him.  Allah prays:

“Allah sends his salat (Graces, Honours, Blessings, Mercy, etc.) on the Prophet (Muhammad SAW) and also His angels too (ask Allah to bless and forgive him). O you who believe! send your salat on (ask Allah to bless) him (Muhammad SAW), and (you should) greet (salute) him with the Islamic way of greeting (salutation i.e. AsSalamu 'Alaikum).” Quran 33:56, Hilali-Khan

Again, the Arabic word for the salat that Allah sends here is “yuṣallūna” (يُصَلُّونَ) means “they pray”.  The Arabic word for the “salat” that the Muslim sends, “ṣallū” (صَلُّوا) translates the same way.  So, the Muslim is asked to send salat on Muhammad, just as Allah sends salat on Muhammad.  The same root word is used for both acts.  Allah and His angels send their prayers of blessings on Muhammad.  

Even in the Sunnah does it say the same:

“The Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Whoever sends salah upon me once, Allah (SWT) will send salah upon him tenfold." “  Sunan an-Nasa'i 1296, Book 13, Hadith 118

In this hadith the same word “salah” (صَلَّى) is used twice, once for us, once for Allah.  Allah sends salah in the same way as the Muslim sends salah.

If salah means "pray", then Allah prays for Muhammad.  In the Patton 2009 book chapter, the literal translation “God prays for the Prophet” is the phrase's most obvious meaning. 

The big question is who is Allah praying to?  Is it another God?  Allah is asking another being of equal or greater authority, presumably another God, to bless Muhammad.  Either Allah is then blessing Muhammad through partners.  I.e. Allah commits shirk.  

Now in Surah 33:56 the Arabic is rendered "Allah and his angels" (literally "l-laha wamalāikatahu").  If one really insists that the phrase means "send blessings", then Allah and his angels work together to send blessings.  This puts Allah and his angels on the same level.  The angels then are partners with Allah.  

In either case, Allah is seen committing shirk.  Allah should not be praying blessings on someone.  Humans do this, God doesn't.  Allah should not be working together with angels to send blessings.  Is not Allah meant to be greater than the angels?  There should be no greater authority than God: 

...For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Romans 13:1b

Allah cannot be God, and the Quran cannot be the word of God.  Come back to the Torah, Zabur (Psalms) and Injeel (gospel).  To find God, come back to the Bible.