Fiqh al-Adiyah wa-al-Adhkar - Abd al-Razzaq ibn Abd al-Muhsin al-Badr - (3/288)

Fiqh al-Adiyah wa-al-AdhkarAbd al-Razzaq ibn Abd al-Muhsin al-Badr

Dāwūd narrated from Abū Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “Whenever the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sneezed, he would place his hand or garment over his mouth and lower—or muffle—his voice with it.”1.

Furthermore, both the person who sneezes and the one who invokes Allah’s mercy upon him must adhere in this matter to what is prescribed in the Sunnah. The Sunnah is for the person who sneezes to say, “Praise be to Allah.” He may also say, “Praise be to Allah in every circumstance,” as this additional wording is established in Abū Dāwūd’s Sunan. The one responding should say, “May Allah have mercy upon you,” and the person who sneezed should then reply, “May Allah guide you and set your affairs aright.” The hadith of Abū Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning this has already been cited.

Alternatively, the person who sneezes may say, “May Allah have mercy upon us and you, and forgive us and you all.” This is based on what Mālik narrated in his Muwatta from Nāfi, from Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him and his father: “Whenever he sneezed and someone said to him, ‘May Allah have mercy upon you,’ he would reply, ‘May Allah have mercy upon us and you all, and forgive us and you all.’”2.

The early generations, may Allah have mercy upon them, censured anyone who added to this transmitted formula. Al-Tirmidhī narrated in his Sunan that a man sneezed in the presence of Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, and said, “Praise be to Allah, and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah.” Ibn Umar replied, “I, too, say, ‘Praise be to Allah, and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.’ But this is not how the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, taught us. Rather, he taught us to say, ‘Praise be to Allah in every circumstance.’”3.

This reflects the diligence of the early generations, may Allah have mercy upon them, in adhering to the Sunnah and following the guidance and footsteps of the best of this Ummah. May Allah join us with them and grant us success in following them.

(1) Sunan Abī Dāwūd, no. 5029; authenticated as sahīh by al-Albānī, may Allah have mercy on him, in Sahīh al-Jāmiʿ, no. 4755. (2) Al-Muwattaʾ, no. 2770. (3) Sunan al-Tirmidhī, no. 2738; graded hasan by al-Albānī, may Allah have mercy on him, in Sahīh al-Tirmidhī, no. 2200.

داود عن أبي هريرة ﵁ قال: " كانَ رسولُ الله ﷺ إذا عطس وَضَعَ يدَه أو ثوبَه على فيه، وخَفَضَ أو غَضَّ بِهَا صَوتَه"١. ثمَّ إنَّ العاطسَ والمشمِّتَ عليهم أن يلتزمَا في ذلك بما جاء في السنَّة، والسُّنَّة أن يقول العاطس "الحمد لله"، وله أن يقول: "الحمد لله على كلِّ حال"؛ لثبوت هذه الزيادة في سنن أبي داود، وأن يقول المشمِّت: "يرحمك الله"، وأن يقول له العاطسُ بعد تشميته: "يهديكم الله ويصلحُ بالَكم"، وقد تقدَّم حديثُ أبي هريرة ﵁ في هذا. وللعاطس أن يقول بدل هذا: "يرحمنا الله وإيَّاك ويغفر لنا ولكم"؛ لِمَا رواه مالك في موطئه عن نافع، عن ابن عمر ﵄: "كانَ إذا عطس فقيل: يَرحَمُك الله، قال: يَرْحَمُنا الله وإيَّاكم، ويغفرُ لنا ولكم"٢. وقد أنكر السَّلفُ ﵏ مَن يزيد على هذا المأثور، فقد روى الترمذي في سننه أنَّ رجلاً عطس عند ابن عمر ﵄، فقال: الحمد لله والسلام على رسول الله، فقال ابن عمر: وأنا أقول: "الحمد لله، والسلام على رسول الله ﷺ، وليس هكذا علَّمنا رسول الله ﷺ، ولكن علَّمنا أن نقول: الحمد لله على كلِّ حال"٣. وفي هذا حرصُ السلف ﵏ على لزوم السُّنَّة واقتفاء هدي وآثار خير الأمَّة، ألحقنا الله بهم ووفَّقنا لاتِّباعهم.

١ سنن أبي داود (رقم:٥٠٢٩) ، وصحَّحه الألباني ﵀ في صحيح الجامع (رقم:٤٧٥٥) . ٢ الموطأ (رقم:٢٧٧٠) . ٣ سنن الترمذي (رقم:٢٧٣٨) ، وحسَّنه الألباني ﵀ في صحيح الترمذي (رقم:٢٢٠٠) .