Question: There is a H~adi#th
which says:
Two men sneezed before the Prophet. The Prophet said
to one of them: May Allah bestow His Mercy on you; but he did not say that
to the other. On being asked, the Prophet said: That one praised Allah
(at the time of sneezing), while the other did not praise Allah. (Abu#
Da’u#d, Kita#bu’l-Adab)
From this, I gather that one should only
reply to a sneeze by saying yarh~amukulla#h
if the person who sneezed said al-h~amdulilla#h.
But how would I know if the other person said it or not. He may have said
it in his heart. Also, what is the significance of these two utterances?
Answer: I’ll first answer the last
part of your question:
It is desired from a Muslim to remember Allah as much
as he can everyday. This remembrance gives him the strength and courage
to brave the storms of life, and places him in the right perspective of
being a servant of the Almighty. As such this remembrance is also an expression
of servitude from a person for his Creator. There are various forms of
this; one very important one is an expression of gratitude for the various
gifts and blessings the Almighty has bestowed us with. These gifts and
blessings are obviously countless. As a thanksgiving for these blessings,
the Prophet (sws) has suggested various utterances at various instances.
Sneezing is one of them, and a very meaningful one too – since the relief
and comfort a person gets when he is through with it requires that we thank
the Lord of the worlds for this favour.
A person is required to reply with yarh~amukulla#h
only if he has heard the person who has sneezed say al-h~amdulilla#h;
if he has said this in his heart or in a tone which is not audible to the
listener then of course it is not necessary to reply in the prescribed
manner. |