and set your affairs right,” over “May Allah forgive us and you,” because forgiveness presupposes sin, whereas guidance may be sought even in the absence of sin.

My own view is that saying, “May Allah forgive us and you,” is preferable, since no one is free from committing sins, and whoever sins needs forgiveness. If he is guided in the future but his past sins are not forgiven, he remains accountable for them. Better and preferable still would be to combine both, saying, “May Allah forgive us and you, guide you, and set your affairs right.”

When a non-Muslim under Muslim protection sneezes and praises Allah, he should not be told, “May Allah have mercy on you,” but rather, “May Allah guide you and set your affairs right,” because neither a Jew nor a Christian is forgiven his sins until he believes. This is supported by the report that “Jews and Christians would make themselves sneeze in the Prophet’s presence (peace and blessings be upon him), hoping that he would say, ‘May Allah have mercy on you,’ but he would say, ‘May Allah guide you and set your affairs right.’”

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made invoking mercy conditional upon praising Allah when he said, “When he says, ‘Praise be to Allah,’ he should be told, ‘May Allah have mercy on you.’” This indicates that mercy should not be invoked for someone who sneezes until he praises Allah. This is Mālik’s position: one should not invoke mercy for him until one hears him praise Allah. Mālik was asked, “What if the gathering is large, and I hear the people invoking mercy for him?” He replied, “If you hear those invoking mercy for him, then invoke mercy for him.”

There is disagreement over invoking mercy for someone who sneezes. Some hold that it is obligatory for everyone who hears him praise Allah; this is the position of the Zāhirīs. Others hold that it is a communal obligation, like returning a greeting. Still others hold that it is a recommendation and guidance, not an obligation. The person who sneezes is instructed to praise Allah because of the benefit he derives from sneezing. Evidence for this is that mercy is not invoked for him when he has a cold, as related in the hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

“If he sneezes, invoke mercy for him. Then, if he sneezes, invoke mercy for him. Then, if he sneezes, invoke mercy for him. Then, if he sneezes, say, ‘You have a cold.’”

‘Abd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr, the narrator of the hadith, said, “I do not know whether this was after the third or the fourth sneeze.”

Both tasmīt and tashmīt are used for invoking mercy upon someone who sneezes. Al-Khalīl said, “Tashmīt is a linguistic variant of tasmīt.”

Tha‘lab said, “Tashmīt means: ‘May Allah keep others from gloating over your misfortune and spare you anything over which they might gloat.’ Tasmīt means: ‘May Allah grant you a good manner and bearing.’” Success comes through Allah.