Sneezing and Yawning

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Adam related to us, saying: Ibn Abi Dhi’b related to us, saying: Sa‘id al-Maqburi related to us, from his father, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said: “Allah loves sneezing and dislikes yawning. When someone sneezes and praises Allah, every Muslim who hears him is bound to invoke mercy for him. As for yawning, it is from Satan, so let him suppress it as much as he can. When he says ‘Ah!’ Satan laughs at him.”

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Musa related to us, from Abu ‘Awana, from ‘Ata, from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ‘Abbas, who said: When one of you sneezes and says, “Praise belongs to Allah,” the angel says: “Lord of all worlds.” When he says: “Lord of all worlds,” the angel says: “May Allah have mercy on you.”

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Musa ibn Isma‘il related to us, saying: ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Abi Salama related to us, saying: ‘Abdullah ibn Dinar related to us, from Abu Salih al-Samman, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said: “When one of you sneezes, let him say: ‘Praise belongs to Allah.’ Then his brother or companion should say to him: ‘May Allah have mercy on you.’ When he says that to him, let him reply: ‘May Allah guide you and set your affairs right.’” Abu ‘Abdullah said: The most firmly established report in this chapter is this hadith narrated from Abu Salih al-Samman.

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Muhammad ibn Sallam related to us, saying: al-Fazari informed us, from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ziyad ibn An‘um al-Ifriqi, who said: My father related to me that they were on a naval expedition during the time of Mu‘awiya, and their vessel joined the vessel of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. When their midday meal was ready, they sent for him, and he came to them and said: “You invited me while I am fasting, but I had no choice but to accept your invitation, because I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say: ‘A Muslim owes his brother six duties. If he neglects any of them, he has neglected a duty owed to his brother: he should greet him when he meets him; respond when he invites him; invoke mercy for him when he sneezes; visit him when he is ill; attend him when he dies; and give him sincere counsel when he asks for it.’” There was among us a joking man who would say to a man who had eaten our food: “May Allah reward you with goodness and virtue.” When he kept repeating it, the man became angry with him. He said to Abu Ayyub: “What do you think of a man who gets angry and insults me when I say to him, ‘May Allah reward you with goodness and virtue’?” Abu Ayyub said: “We used to say: whoever is not set right by goodness will be set right by evil. So turn it around on him.” When the man came to him, he said: “May Allah reward you with evil and disgrace.” The man laughed, was pleased, and said: “Will you never stop joking?” The joker said: “May Allah reward Abu Ayyub al-Ansari with good.”

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‘Ali ibn ‘Abdullah related to us, saying: Yahya ibn Sa‘id related to us, saying: ‘Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja‘far related to us, saying: My father related to me, from Hakim ibn Aflah, from Ibn Mas‘ud, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said: “A Muslim owes four things to another Muslim: he visits him when he is ill; attends him when he dies; responds when he invites him; and invokes mercy for him when he sneezes.”

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Muhammad ibn Sallam related to us, saying: Abu al-Ahwas informed us, from Ash‘ath, from Mu‘awiya ibn Suwayd, from al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, commanded us to do seven things and forbade us from seven. He commanded us to visit the sick, follow funeral processions, invoke mercy for one who sneezes, fulfill an oath made by someone, support the wronged, spread greetings of peace, and accept invitations. He forbade us from gold rings, silver vessels, silk saddlecloths, qassiy cloth, brocade, dibaj, and silk.

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And from Isma‘il ibn Ja‘far, from al-‘Ala ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman, from his father, from Abu Hurayra, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “A Muslim has six rights over another Muslim.” It was asked: “What are they, Messenger of Allah?” He said: “When you meet him, greet him; when he invites you, respond; when he asks you for counsel, advise him; when he sneezes and praises Allah, invoke mercy for him; when he is ill, visit him; and when he dies, follow his funeral.”

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Talaq ibn Ghannam related to us, saying: Shayban related to us, from Abu Ishaq, from Khaythama, from ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “Whoever, when he hears someone sneeze, says: ‘Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds, whatever the circumstances,’ will never suffer toothache or earache.”

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Malik ibn Isma‘il related to us, saying: ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Abi Salama related to us, saying: ‘Abdullah ibn Dinar informed us, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said: “When one of you sneezes, let him say: ‘Praise belongs to Allah.’ When he says, ‘Praise belongs to Allah,’ his brother or companion should say to him: ‘May Allah have mercy on you.’ Then let him say: ‘May Allah guide you all and set your affairs right.’”

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‘Asim related to us, saying: Ibn Abi Dhi’b related to us, from Sa‘id al-Maqburi, from his father, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said: “Allah loves sneezing and dislikes yawning. When one of you sneezes and praises Allah, every Muslim who hears him is bound to say: ‘May Allah have mercy on you.’ As for yawning, it is from Satan. When one of you yawns, let him suppress it as much as he can, for when one of you yawns, Satan laughs at him.”

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Hamid ibn ‘Umar related to us, saying: Abu ‘Awana related to us, from Abu Jamra, who said: I heard Ibn ‘Abbas say: When someone invokes mercy for him after a sneeze, he should say: “May Allah protect us and you from the Fire; may He have mercy on you.”

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Ishaq related to us, saying: Ya‘la informed us, saying: Abu Munayn—Yazid ibn Kaysan—informed us, from Abu Hazim, from Abu Hurayra, who said: We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when a man sneezed and praised Allah. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him: “May Allah have mercy on you.” Then another man sneezed, but he said nothing to him. The man said: “Messenger of Allah, you responded to the other man but said nothing to me.” He replied: “He praised Allah, while you remained silent.”

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Adam related to us, saying: Shu‘ba related to us, saying: Sulayman al-Taymi related to us, saying: I heard Anas say: Two men sneezed in the Prophet’s presence, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He invoked mercy for one of them but not the other. The latter said: “You invoked mercy for this man but did not invoke it for me?” He replied: “This man praised Allah, while you did not praise Him.”

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Muhammad ibn Sallam related to us, saying: Rib‘i ibn Ibrahim—who was the brother of Ibn ‘Ulayya—related to us, saying: ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ishaq related to us, from Sa‘id ibn Abi Sa‘id, from Abu Hurayra, who said: Two men sat with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, one of them more distinguished than the other. The more distinguished man sneezed, but did not praise Allah, so the Prophet did not invoke mercy for him. The other man sneezed and praised Allah, so the Prophet invoked mercy for him. The distinguished man said: “I sneezed in your presence and you did not invoke mercy for me, while this other man sneezed and you invoked mercy for him.” He said: “This man remembered Allah, so I remembered him; you forgot Allah, so I left you.”

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Isma‘il related to us, from Malik, from Nafi‘, from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, who, when he sneezed and someone said to him: “May Allah have mercy on you,” would reply: “May Allah have mercy on us and you, and forgive us and you.”

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Abu Nu‘aym related to us, saying: Sufyan related to us, from ‘Ata, from Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman, from ‘Abdullah, who said: When one of you sneezes, let him say: “Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds.” Let the one responding to him say: “May Allah have mercy on you.” Then let he himself say: “May Allah forgive me and you.”

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‘Asim ibn ‘Ali related to us, saying: ‘Ikrima related to us, saying: Iyas ibn Salama related to us, from his father, who said: A man sneezed in the presence of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he said: “May Allah have mercy on you.” Then the man sneezed again, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “This man has a cold.”

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‘Arim related to us, saying: ‘Umara ibn Zadhan related to us, saying: Makhul al-Azdi related to me, saying: I was beside Ibn ‘Umar when a man sneezed from one side of the mosque. Ibn ‘Umar said: “May Allah have mercy on you, if you praised Allah.”

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Muhammad ibn Sallam related to us, saying: Makhlad informed us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us: Ibn Abi Najih informed me, from Mujahid, who said he heard him say: A son of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar sneezed—either Abu Bakr or ‘Umar—and said: “Abb!” Ibn ‘Umar said: “What is ‘Abb’? ‘Abb is the name of one of the devils, which he puts between the sneeze and the praise [of Allah].”

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Abu al-Walid related to us, saying: ‘Ikrima ibn ‘Ammar related to us, saying: Iyas ibn Salama related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: I was with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when a man sneezed. He said: “May Allah have mercy on you.” Then the man sneezed again, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “This man has a cold.”