Chapter on the recommendation of responding to the sneezer who praises Allah the Exalted, and the dislike of responding to him if he does not praise Allah the Exalted, and an explanation of the etiquettes of responding to the sneeze, sneezing, and yawning.

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Chapter on the recommendation of responding to the sneezer who praises Allah the Exalted and an explanation of the etiquettes of responding to the sneeze, sneezing, and yawning. It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Allah likes sneezing and dislikes yawning. When any one of you sneezes and says `Al-hamdu lillah (praise be to Allah)', it becomes obligatory upon every Muslim who hears him to respond with `Yarhamuk-Allah (may Allah have mercy on you)'. Yawning is from the devil. When one of you feels like yawning, he should restrain it as much as possible, for the devil laughs when one of you yawns.

إن الله يحب العطاس ويكره التثاؤب، فإذا عطس أحدكم وحمد الله تعالى كان حقًّا على كل مسلم سمعه أن يقول له يرحمك الله، وأما التثاؤب فإنما هو من الشيطان، فإذا تثاءب أحدكم فليرده ما استطاع فإن أحدكم إذا تثاءب ضحك منه الشيطان

Riyad as-Salihin 878

Al-Bukhari narrated it. And from him (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said:

If anyone of you sneezes, he should say 'Al-Hamduli l-lah' (Praise be to Allah), and his (Muslim) brother or companion should say to him, 'Yar-hamuka-l-lah' (May Allah bestow his Mercy on you). When the latter says 'Yar-hamuka-llah", the former should say, 'Yahdikumul-lah wa Yuslih balakum' (May Allah give you guidance and improve your condition).

إذا عطس أحدكم فليقل الحمد لله وليقل له أخوه أو صاحبه يرحمك الله، فإذا قال له يرحمك الله فليقل يهديكم الله ويصلح بالكم

Sahih al-Bukhari 6224

Al-Bukhari narrated it. And from Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say:

When any one of you sneezes he should praise Allah and the other should say: May Allah have mercy upon you, and if he does not praise Allah, no mercy should be begged for him.

إذا عطس أحدكم فحمد الله فشمتوه فإن لم يحمد الله فلا تشمتوه

Sahih Muslim 2992

Muslim narrated it. And from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: Two men sneezed in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so he responded to one of them and did not respond to the other. The one who was not responded to said: So-and-so sneezed and you responded to him, and I sneezed but you did not respond to me. He said:

That person praised Allah, and you did not praise Allah.

هذا حمد الله وإنك لم تحمد الله

Sahih Muslim 2991a

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim".

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in *Riyad al-Saliheen*: "Chapter on the recommendation of responding to the sneezer who praises Allah and an explanation of the etiquettes of sneezing and yawning". The reason for this is that sneezing indicates vitality and lightness. For this reason, you find that when a person sneezes, he becomes energetic. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, loves the energetic and serious person. In the authentic collections, it is narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: And sneezing indicates lightness and vitality, so for this reason it is beloved to Allah. And it is prescribed (mashru') for a person when he sneezs to say "Praise be to Allah," because it is a blessing, a blessing he has been given, so let him praise Allah for it. He says "Praise be to Allah" when he sneezs, whether he is in prayer or outside of prayer, in whatever place he is. However, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) say that if a person sneezs while he is in the place of relief, i.e., in the toilet, he should not say "Praise be to Allah" with his tongue, but he should praise with his heart. As for his tongue, he should not, because they say (may Allah have mercy on them) that a person does not remember Allah in the place of relief. So if a person sneezs and praises Allah, it is obligatory for everyone who hears him to say "May Allah have mercy on you," so he prays for mercy for him as a reward for his praise of Allah Mighty and Majestic. For when he praised Allah, part of the reward for that is that his brothers pray for his mercy. And his saying: its apparent meaning is that it is obligatory upon every listener individually. And this is supported by his saying in the other hadith: And some scholars held that responding to the sneezer is a collective obligation (fard kifayah), meaning that if one person from the group says to the sneezer who praised Allah "May Allah have mercy on you," that is sufficient. But the precaution is that everyone who hears him should respond to him, i.e., pray for his mercy, as came in the hadith. As for yawning, it is from Shaytan, and for this reason Allah dislikes it. Why? Why? Because yawning indicates laziness. For this reason, yawning is common in those who are sleepy, and the one who is sleepy is known to be lazy. So because it indicates laziness, Allah the Exalted dislikes it. But if one yawns, it is better to suppress it, to hold back the yawn and restrain it and be patient. The scholars said: "And if you want to suppress it, bite your lower lip". Here, but of course, do not bite so hard that it tears, but to close it so that the mouth does not open. So the important thing is to suppress it, whether by this method or another. If you are unable to suppress it, put your hand over your mouth like this, put it over the mouth. And what some scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) mentioned that you put the back of your hand over your mouth has no basis for it. Rather, you put the palm of your hand like this, blocking, blocking the mouth. And the reason for this is that when a person yawns, Shaytan laughs at him because he knows that this indicates his laziness and his sluggishness. And Shaytan loves for the children of Adam to be lazy and sluggish, may Allah protect us and you from that. And he dislikes the energetic and serious person who is always in resolve, strength, and vitality. So if yawning comes to you, if you are able to suppress it and prevent it, that is the Sunnah and the best. And if you are not able, put your hand over your mouth. But do you say "I seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan"? No, do not say "I seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan the Rakeeb" when yawning, because that has not come from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us what to do when yawning, and he did not say "Say so-and-so," he said "Do so-and-so," meaning suppress it or hold it back with the hand, and he did not say "Seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan the Rakeeb." And what has become widespread among some people that a person when he yawns says "I seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan the Rakeeb," this has no basis for it. And acts of worship are based on the Shari'ah, not on desire. But some people may say: Does not Allah say: And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) informed that yawning is from Shaytan, so this is a provocation? We say: No, you understood the verse incorrectly. The intended meaning of his saying "if a provocation from Shaytan comes to you" means the command to commit sins or the leaving of obligations, because this is the provocation of Shaytan. This is Shaytan's provocation, as He said the Exalted about him that he provokes between people, so this is his provocation: the command to commit sins and discouraging from obligations. This is his provocation. So if you feel that, say "I seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan the Rakeeb." As for yawning, there is in it only a practical Sunnah, which is suppressing it as much as you can. If you are not able, put your hand over your mouth. And among the etiquettes of sneezing is that it is recommended for a person when he sneezs to put his garment or his head covering over his face like this, as the people of knowledge said. And in that there are two wisdoms. The first wisdom: that diseases may come out with this sneeze and spread to those around you. And the second: that something disgusting may come out of his nose that souls are disgusted by, so if he covers his face like this, there is good in that. But do not do what some people do, putting your hand over your nose when sneezing; this is a mistake, because this restricts the exit of the air that comes out of the mouth when sneezing, and there may be harm in this for you. And in these hadiths that the author mentioned, there is evidence that the one who sneezs and does not say "Praise be to Allah" is not said to him "May Allah have mercy on you." Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had two men sneeze in his presence; one of them the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to him "May Allah have mercy on you," and the other he did not say that to him. So the one to whom it was not said said: O Messenger of Allah, so-and-so sneezed and I said to him "May Allah have mercy on you," and I sneezed but you did not say that to me. He said: And based on this, if a person sneezs and does not praise, we do not say to him "May Allah have mercy on you." But do we remind him? Do we remind him, saying "Say Praise be to Allah"? No, this hadith indicates that you do not remind him, because the Messenger did not say "If he sneezs and does not praise Allah, remind him." He said "Do not respond to him," so we do not say "Praise Allah." But afterwards, we inform him that it is recommended (sunnah) for a person when he sneezs to praise Allah, and this is from the category of teaching. And success is from Allah.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Yes, it is necessary that he hears it, because this is for addressing the people, and the address must be heard. Now, as for the one who sneezes, when he is told, “May Allah have mercy on you,” he should say, “May Allah guide you and rectify your condition,” meaning he should pray for him for guidance and the rectification of his affairs. Some of the common people, when responding, say, “May Allah guide us and guide you,” and this is contrary to what is prescribed. What is prescribed is that you say, “May Allah guide you and rectify your condition.” And success is from Allah.