It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When one of you sneezes, let him say: 'Alhamdu lillahi rabbil-alamin' (All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds); let it be said to him: 'Yarhamuk Allah' (May Allah have mercy on you); and let him say: 'Yaghfirullahu lana wa lakum' (May Allah forgive us and you)." This is a hadith that no one other than Ata bin al-Sa'ib narrated as marfu' (attributed to the Prophet) from Abu Abd al-Rahman from Ibn Mas'ud, and Ja'far bin Sulayman al-Duba'i and Abyad bin Aban al-Qurashi are alone in narrating it from him. The correct version of it is the narration of the meticulous hafiz Imam Sufyan bin Sa'id al-Thawri from Ata bin al-Sa'ib.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that (he said): When one of you sneezes, let him say: 'Alhamdu lillah' (All praise is for Allah), and let it be said to him: 'Yarhamukumullah' (May Allah have mercy on you); and when 'Yarhamukumullah' is said to him, let him say: 'Yaghfirullahu lana wa lakum' (May Allah forgive us and you). This is what is preserved (mahfuz) as the words of Abdullah bin Mas'ud, since those whose narration is relied upon did not narrate it as marfu' (attributed) to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

It is narrated from a man that he said: We were with Salim bin Ubayd (may Allah be pleased with him) on a journey, and a man sneezed and said: 'As-salamu alaykum' (Peace be upon you). Salim said: "Upon you and upon your mother be peace." Then he asked him: Perhaps this upset you? He said: I would not have liked you to mention my mother. Salim said: We were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a man sneezed and said: 'As-salamu alaykum' (Peace be upon you), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Upon you and upon your mother be peace." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When one of you sneezes, let him say: 'Alhamdu lillahi rabbil-alamin' (All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds), or 'Alhamdu lillahi ala kulli hal' (All praise is for Allah in every state); let it be said to him: 'Yarhamukumullah' (May Allah have mercy on you); and let him say: 'Yaghfirullahu li wa lakum' (May Allah forgive me and you)." Za'idah bin Qudamah corroborated Sufyan al-Thawri in narrating it from Mansur.

It is narrated from a man of al-Nakha' that he said: We were with Salim bin Ubayd on a journey; then he narrated the entire hadith like the (preceding) hadith. Jarir bin Abd al-Hamid erred in narrating it from Mansur, and dropped an unknown narrator from al-Nakha' who is between Hilal bin Yisaf and Salim bin Ubayd.

Hilal bin Yisaf narrates: We were on a journey with Sayyiduna Salim bin Ubayd (may Allah be pleased with him), and a man among them sneezed and said: 'As-salamu alaykum' (Peace be upon you). Salim (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: "Upon you and upon your mother be peace." Then he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "When one of you sneezes, let him praise Allah; let those who are with him say 'Yarhamuk Allah' (May Allah have mercy on you); and let him (the sneezer) reply to them: 'Yaghfirullahu lana wa lakum' (May Allah forgive us and you)." The error in this narration of Jarir is evident, for Hilal bin Yisaf did not meet Salim bin Ubayd nor see him; between them is an unknown narrator. As for the wording that occurs in the words of some jurists who do not distinguish between authentic and weak reports, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the sneezer to say to the one who responded to him 'Yahdikumullahu wa yuslihu balakum' (May Allah guide you and set your affairs right), it gives the false impression that this supplication is for the People of the Book only and not for the Muslims.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Jews used to sneeze (deliberately) in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), hoping that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would say to them in reply 'Yarhamukumullah' (May Allah have mercy on you), but he (peace and blessings be upon him) would say to them (in reply): "'Yahdikumullahu wa yuslihu balakum' (May Allah guide you and set your affairs right)." This hadith has a connected chain of narration, and this report does not contradict the authentic reports agreed upon in the two Sahihs of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, because the authentic Sunnah is that a Muslim says to his brother 'Yarhamuk Allah' (May Allah have mercy on you), and he replies 'Yahdikumullahu wa yuslihu balakum' (May Allah guide you and set your affairs right); whereas he (peace and blessings be upon him) would supplicate for the Jews only for guidance and the setting right of their affairs, instead of 'Yarhamukumullah'. So the one who uses this as evidence does not distinguish between the sneezer and the one who responds to him. the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated for guidance for himself and for the Muslims in many reports whose explanation would take too long here, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded his close friend, his chosen one and his son-in-law, Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), to ask Allah for guidance.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Ali, ask Allah for guidance and steadfastness (sadad); when asking for guidance, keep in mind being guided along the road, and when asking for steadfastness, keep in mind the straightening of an arrow." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave his son, Sayyiduna Hasan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both), the same command that he had given his father; and the words of the Qunut supplication that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught him, 'Allahumma ihdini fiman hadayt' (O Allah, include me among those whom You have guided), are too well known to need mention of their chain and routes.