So and so sneezed and you said: May Allah have mercy upon you. I also sneezed but you did not utter these words for me. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: That person praised Allah, and you did not praise Allah.
The Book of Zuhd and Softening of Hearts
Sahih Muslim - Hadith 2991a
Hadith Text
"So and so sneezed and you said: May Allah have mercy upon you. I also sneezed but you did not utter these words for me. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: That person praised Allah, and you did not praise Allah."
Scholarly Commentary
This noble hadith establishes the Islamic etiquette of responding to sneezing. The Prophet (ﷺ) teaches us that the response "Yarhamukallah" (May Allah have mercy upon you) is conditional upon the sneezer saying "Alhamdulillah" (All praise is for Allah) first.
The wisdom behind this teaching is profound: when a person sneezes and praises Allah, they acknowledge Allah's mercy in the relief and expulsion of harmful matter from their body. This act of remembrance deserves divine mercy in return.
The companion's complaint reveals his expectation of equal treatment, but the Prophet (ﷺ) corrected him by explaining the spiritual cause behind the apparent disparity. This teaches us that outward actions in Islam are connected to inward states and intentions.
Scholars derive from this that praising Allah after sneezing is a sunnah, and responding with mercy is obligatory upon hearing the praise. If the sneezer fails to praise Allah, the listener is not required to respond.
Spiritual Lessons
This incident demonstrates how the Prophet (ﷺ) used everyday occurrences to teach profound spiritual truths about gratitude, divine remembrance, and the connection between our actions and their spiritual consequences.
It reminds believers that blessings and divine responses are tied to our consciousness of Allah and our expressions of gratitude. The hadith softens hearts by showing how even minor actions can become acts of worship when performed with proper intention and remembrance of Allah.