English
Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: “The Jews would sneeze in the presence of the Prophet (ﷺ), hoping 1 he would say to them, ‘May Allah have mercy on you,’ but he would say, ‘May Allah guide you and rectify your condition.’”
Possible references (unverified, pending editorial review)
- Candidate: Jami al-Tirmidhi 2739 (unverified) 98% confidence
- Candidate: Sunan Abi Dawud 5038 (unverified) 98% confidence · Validation similarity: 0.729
Confidence and text similarity are not editorial verification.
Commentary and footnotes (2)
Note 1
(1) His statement: “hoping he would say to them, ‘May Allah have mercy on you,’ etc.”: Some scholars said: Should their sneezer be supplicated for? I say: It appears he should not, as it honors and exalts them, and we are commanded to humble them. In Sharh al-Jami‘ as-Saghir, citing Umar’s prohibition of greeting a dhimmi due to the honor it entails, as stated by Al-Hamawi al-Hanafi in Sharh al-Ashbah wa an-Naza’ir. Its margin notes: There is discussion, and it is better to explain that it involves supplication and forgiveness, which a dhimmi is not entitled to. The Hadith in the Sunnah collections states that the Jews would deliberately sneeze among themselves in the Prophet’s (ﷺ) presence, hoping for his supplication and mercy, but he only sought their guidance. This Hadith supports what we said, so reflect.
Note 1
(۱) قوله: يرجعون أن يقول لهم: يرحمك الله إلخ : قال بعض الفضلاء: وهل يشمت عاطسهم؟ أقول: الظاهر أنه لا يشمت؛ لأن فيه إكراما لهم وتعظيما، ونحن مأمورون بإهانتهم. وفي شرح الجامع الصغير»: عن عمر النهي عن السلام على الذمي؛ لما فيه من التعظيم، قاله الحموي الحنفي في شرح الأشباه والنظائر». وقال في هامشه: فيه بحث، والأولى أن يعلل بأن فيه الترحم والاستغفار، وليس الذمي بأهل لهما، وقد جاء في حديث السنن: أن اليهود كانوا يتكلفون التعاطس فيما بينهم في مجلس النبي ، رجاء أن يستغفر لهم ويترحمهم، وكان لا يزيد على طلب الهداية، فالحديث يستأنس به على ما قلنا، فتفكر.