Riyāḍ uṣ-Ṣāliḥīn · Chapter 142 of 372
Saying ‘Al-Hamdulillah’ on Sneezing, its reply and Manners relating to Sneezing and Yawning
The Book of Greetings – Chapter 142 : Ahadith 878 – 884
Imam Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi (d. 676 AH)
🎧 Listen to all hadiths in Arabic Ch 142 H 878 – 884
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878 Abu Hurairah (radiyallahu anhu) reported: The Prophet ﷺ 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.”[Al-Bukhari].
879Abu Hurairah (radiyallahu anhu) reported: The Prophet ﷺ said, “When one of you sneezes he should say: `Al-hamdu lillah (praise be to Allah),’ and his brother or his companion should say to him: `Yarhamuk-Allah (may Allah have mercy on you).’ When he says this he should reply: `Yahdikum-ullah wa yuslihu balakum (may Allah guide you and render sound your state of affairs).”’[Al-Bukhari].
880 Abu Musa (radiyallahu anhu) reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When one of you sneezes and praises Allah (i.e., says Al-hamdu lillah), you should invoke Allah’s Mercy upon him (i.e., say Yarhamuk-Allah); but if he does not praise Allah, you should not make a response.”[Muslim].
881Anas (radiyallahu anhu) reported: When two men sneezed in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ, he responded to one with “Yarhamuk-Allah (may Allah have mercy on you)” and did not respond to the other. The latter said to him: “You invoked a blessing on this man but did not do so in my case.” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “He praised Allah (i.e., he said `Al-hamdu lillah’) but you did not.”[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
882 Abu Hurairah (radiyallahu anhu) reported: Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sneezed, he would cover his mouth with his hand or a piece of cloth, suppressing the sound this way.[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi].
883 Abu Musa (radiyallahu anhu) reported: The Jews used to intentionally sneeze in the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ hoping that he would say to them: `Yarhamukum-ullah (may Allah have mercy on you),’ but he would respond with: “Yahdikum-ullahu wa yuslihu balakum (may Allah guide you and render sound your state of affairs).”[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi].
884 Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri (radiyallahu anhu) reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When one yawns, he should put his hand over his mouth, otherwise the devil will enter.”[Muslim].