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Rulings on Drinking While Standing

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*Ruling on drinking whilst standing*
 
Question
I have read some ahaadeeth which say that it is forbidden to drink whilst standing. Does this mean that drinking whilst standing is prohibited?

Answer
Praise be to Allah.

There are ahaadeeth which say that the Prophet (ﷺ) forbade drinking whilst standing…

But there are other ahaadeeth which say that the Prophet (ﷺ) drank whilst standing,…

The scholars reconciled these hadeeth by stating that the forbidding mentioned here does not mean that it is haraam, rather it is to be understood as advice, and that it is better to drink whilst sitting. The ahaadeeth which describe the Prophet (ﷺ) drinking whilst standing indicate that it is permissible to do that.

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Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

There is no contradiction in these ahaadeeth, praise be to Allaah, and none of them are da’eef (weak). Rather they are all saheeh. The correct view is that the forbidding mentioned in them is to be understood as meaning that it is disliked. The fact that the Prophet (ﷺ) drank whilst standing indicates that it is permissible to do so. This is all that needs to be said on the matter.

If it is asked: How come it is makrooh to drink whilst standing when the Prophet (ﷺ) did that?

The answer is that if what he (ﷺ) did was to show that it is permissible, then it is not makrooh, rather he (ﷺ) was obliged to show and explain that, so how can it be makrooh?  It is proven that the Prophet (ﷺ) did wudoo’ washing each part only once, and that he circumambulated the Ka’bah (i.e., did tawaaf) riding a camel – even though there is scholarly consensus that it is better to do wudoo’ washing each part three times and that it is better to do tawaaf walking. There are many similar examples. The Prophet (ﷺ) was demonstrating that something is permissible one time or many times, but he persisted in following the better option. So usually when he did wudoo’ he washed each part three times, and he usually did tawaaf walking, and he usually drank whilst sitting. This is clear and is not confusing to anyone who has the slightest claim to knowledge. And Allaah knows best.

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This reconciliation between the ahaadeeth was suggested by al-Khattaabi, Ibn Battaal, al-Tabari and others. 

Al-Haafiz said in Fath al-Baari: 
This is the best and soundest explanation, and the farthest removed from contradiction. 

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (22/133):

The basic ruling is that one should drink whilst sitting, which is better, but one may drink whilst standing. The Prophet (ﷺ) did both to demonstrate that there is a lot of room for manoeuvre in this matter.

 

-Summarised and Extracted from islamqa.info

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