Is It Obligatory To Reply The Sneezer?

*Salaamun 'alaykum wa rahmat-ul-lahi wa barakātuh* 

_In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allaah (ﷺ) ._

_🎙️Shaykh ibn ‘Uthaymeen, [may Allāh have mercy on him], was asked:_

*‘Is it obligatory to say ‘Yarhamuk Allāh’- ‘may Allāh bestow mercy upon you’- to one who sneezes once, even if the sneezing occurs three times or more?’*

🎙️He answered: *‘If a person sneezes three times, then you say ‘Yarhamuk Allāh’ after each sneeze. However after the third sneeze, you should say to him: ‘Āfāk Allāh’- May Allāh grant you well-being, because this indicates a cold.*

 *So you should say, ‘Āfāk Allāh, innaka Mazkūm - May Allāh grant you wellbeing, you have a cold.’ To avoid giving the impression that you are supplicating to Allāh, Exalted be He, to cure him from a sin or wrongdoing he committed.*

*Thus, you say: You have a cold, to inform them that you have asked for their well-being and for them to be cured solely due to their condition of having a cold.”*

📚 Liqā’a al-Bāb al-Maftūh, #127 | Shaykh ibn ‘Uthaymeen, [may Allāh bestow mercy upon him]

*May Allaah accept our ibaadat and forgive our shortcomings.*

_❞Keep Reminding, for Indeed the ʀᴇᴍɪɴᴅᴇʀ ʙᴇɴᴇꜰɪᴛs ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇʀ❝_

*Allaahu l Musta'aan*