Question
Salam, if someone says the name of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, or recites Surah al-Ahzab 33:56 mentioning salawat, can the person praying say salawat on the Prophet during the salat? Also, if someone sneezes during the salat, can they say alhamdulillah? Or yarhamukAllah if they hear someone sneeze?
Answer
Alhamdulillah, wassalatu wassalamu ‘ala rasoolillah, wa ‘ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma‘in.
Salawat when the Prophet’s ﷺ name is mentioned
- The default view is that salawat in salah is legislated within the tashahhud. Outside of this, the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions did not add salawat during recitation.
- However, the Shāfiʿi school and a position among the late Hanbalis held that the imam and the ma’mūm may say Allahumma salli ‘ala Sayyidina Muhammad when his name is mentioned in recitation, but it must be done silently or at a tone lower than Qur’an recitation, without disturbing the prayer.
- Some scholars mentioned that the imam may even pause briefly after the verse so that the ma’mūmīn can silently send salawat.
Saying alhamdulillah after sneezing
- The majority prohibit normal speech in salah, based on the hadith: “This prayer is not suitable for any of the speech of people.” (Muslim).
- Yet some scholars allowed a sneezer to say alhamdulillah quietly, at a lower tone than Qur’an recitation, since it remains dhikr of Allah and not worldly speech.
Saying yarhamukAllah
- If one responds inside salah by saying yarhamukAllah to another, the prayer is invalidated. This is agreed upon, since it falls under ordinary speech in salah.
- However, if one is in sujood, it is permissible to make duʿā for the sneezer, such as saying Allahumma irhamhu or yarhamukAllah, since supplication in sujood is legislated.
And Allah knows best.