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The question

Is it permissible to say "Yarhamuk Allah" (may Allah have mercy on you) to someone who sneezes but does not audibly praise Allah, assuming they praised Allah silently, and is it permissible to say it in one's heart if they are far away or a woman?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

One should not say "Yarhamukallah" (may Allah have mercy on you) to someone who sneezes and does not praise Allah, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "If one of you sneezes and praises Allah, then say 'Yarhamukallah' to him. But if he does not praise Allah, then do not say it to him." It is disliked to say "Yarhamukallah" if he does not praise Allah. If he praises Allah but you do not hear his praise, then do not say it to him. You are not required to say "Yarhamukallah" to someone whose praise you did not hear, because the Muslim's right upon his brother is to say "Yarhamukallah" to him if he hears his praise. What goes on in one's mind without being uttered has no legal standing in Islamic law.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported

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Where this answer came from
Source platform
Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
162302
Imported
Translation status
Source text, unreviewed
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