The Ruling on Drinking While Standing

The Shaykh : I do not wish to be lengthy in this matter; rather, I intended to remind you of the etiquette—indeed, the obligatory etiquettes—that must be observed when we engage in an action to which people usually do not pay attention, which is how we drink. One of us comes and drinks however it happens; whether he takes the cup with his right hand or his left, there is no difference to him; whether he drinks while sitting or standing, there is no difference to him. Yet, in both drinking while standing and drinking with the left hand, there are hadiths forbidding it. We must know these hadiths so that we are affected by them as guardians of children first, and consequently so that we are affected by them to raise our children accordingly. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade, and in one narration warned against, drinking while standing: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against drinking while standing.” In another hadith, he (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a man drinking while standing and said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): . He said: “No, O Messenger of Allah.” He said: , then he said to him or to another: . This is a command to vomit, meaning to expel the water he drank while standing. Every person of sense, intellect, and understanding knows that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have commanded this one who drank while standing to expel that water unless this drinking was a sin against Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Otherwise, if drinking while standing were, as many shaykhs and others claim, merely disliked by way of recommendation, then if it were merely disliked, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have commanded this one drinking while standing to strain himself, and perhaps expose himself to some severe discomfort that would result in some disturbance to his health thereafter. The command of the Messenger (peace be upon him) for this drinker to vomit and expel what entered his stomach of that water is the greatest proof that drinking while standing is a sin. Therefore, we guardians must refrain from drinking while standing except out of dire necessity or excuse; this is a second matter to be discussed. This means that we must constantly and always practice, when we are in normal circumstances, that if we take the cup while standing, we sit down and drink while sitting, fearing that we may contravene the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in his prohibition of us drinking while standing. This is with regard to drinking while standing.