The ruling on standing up for someone entering the assembly.

The Shaykh: ... It was imperative at that time to return to knowing what the Messenger (peace be upon him) was like in matters of his religion so that we may follow his example, and to verify also the statement of our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) regarding him: .
There is no doubt that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) lived in a society similar to our society, especially before his mission (peace be upon him); for it was a society of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, with no Shari'ah or morals except what they inherited from ... a little from their fathers who had received some of what Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and his son Isma'il (peace be upon him) were upon. So, among the customs of the pre-Islamic age, just as they are our customs today, some of them would stand up for others when someone entered the assembly. But the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said on one hand: , and whose Lord of the worlds addressed him with His saying: , was perfect and made others perfect in this aspect concerning morals. For this reason, one of his Companions who was constantly with him and who had dedicated themselves to serving him (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him)—I mean Anas ibn Malik—described him thus. Anas served the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for ten years. His mother brought him to him when he was young, and he grew up and matured in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and in his service. This noble Companion lived longer than most of the Prophet's Companions; for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had prayed for him for a long life, abundant wealth, and blessing therein. Therefore, some of his orchards would bear fruit twice a year. This was known in Medina for him alone. He had more than 100 children from his own loins and the loins of his sons during his lifetime, until he would say that such-and-such a daughter of his informed him that he now has more than 100 children. He spoke of his daughter who informed him because it was difficult for him to keep count. What Allah willed! He lived and passed away with a blessed life longer than that of most of the Companions. He used to say (may Allah be pleased with him): "No one was more beloved to them than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and they did not stand up for him because of what they knew of his dislike of it."
This was his Sunnah (recommended practice) (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) with his noble Companions. They did not stand up for him. Why? Not because his Companions did not desire it, but because they loved to honor him by every means. However, at the same time, they did not deviate from pleasing him (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him); for that was their goal; for it leads them to the pleasure of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), as He said (Mighty and Majestic): . Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned in this hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked this standing up. What is the reason? It is related to worship; for standing up for a person out of honor, respect, and veneration is akin to the Muslim who stands praying to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in a state of humility, placing Allah in ... His excellence. So it is not permissible for a Muslim to honor a servant of Allah with this ritual that indicates the honoring of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) by His servant when he stands before Him praying.
This meaning is indicated by other than this hadith, which is related to prayer. It was reported in "Sahih Muslim" that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was riding his mount one day, so ... he and the ground threw him down, and he was injured in his arm. He was unable to pray standing when the midday prayer time arrived, so he prayed sitting. The Prophet (peace be upon him) saw that those behind him were praying standing—peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings, peace be upon you—and the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) seeing those behind him in prayer was a special privilege and a prophetic miracle for him (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him); for he could see behind him in prayer only as he could see in front of him. Therefore, it was reported in another hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to his Companions one day: . He saw them praying standing while he was sitting, so he gestured to them with his hand like this; meaning: sit down. So they sat down. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) finished the prayer, he said to them: .
In this hadith, there is a very great point of attention; namely, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the healthy ones who could not pray standing behind him while he was sitting; he ordered them to join him in sitting. This means that he dropped a pillar from the pillars of prayer; namely, standing. His Lord of mankind said: ; meaning: silent and worshipping. He dropped this pillar for one thing; which is that an image of polytheism should not appear, even if the intention is good and pure. He only wanted to rectify the outward appearance; for the outward appearance is the title of the inward reality. He wanted that no similarity appear between the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sitting out of necessity and not out of arrogance, as Kisra, the King of Persia, sits ... and the Companions standing behind him. They did not stand to honor him, but they stood to honor Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Despite this great difference in intentions, he ordered them to sit so that an image like that of the Kings of Persia with their great ones, who stand on the heads of their kings, ... by sitting, would not appear. If we know this reality, the standing that is obligatory for every prayer is dropped in order to prevent this image, because it is the image of the polytheists, the people of Persia. So what would be the case if the Muslims stood up not for Allah, but stood up for other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in standing? Therefore, it is no wonder that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked this standing up from his Companions when he entered the assembly, and they loved to show their love for him and their honoring of him, so he forbade them from it and disliked it for them. For this reason, he (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) was contrary to what is known today, not only among presidents and princes and the like, but among many scholars and shaykhs (scholars or teachers) as well. When they enter an assembly, people must stand up for him, and honor and exalt him with this standing. So there is severe warning for whoever loves this standing after we have known its lack of legitimacy. That is his saying (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him): . The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made the love of the one entering the assembly for the standing up of those sitting in it a major sin, similar to the major sin of fabricating against the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and speaking falsely about him in his hadiths. As came in the authentic, mass-transmitted hadith: . Likewise, he said to the one entering the assembly who loves for people to stand up for him out of honor: .
And certainly, for the disease of loving self-aggrandizement, elevation, and arrogance over the Muslims, from such a phenomenon, we find that the narrator of this last hadith, Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him), entered the assembly of his rule one day, and there were two men from the 'Abd al-Quraysh; one was 'Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, the well-known and famous one, and the other was 'Abdullah ibn 'Amir. So this second one stood up and the first one did not stand up. So Mu'awiyah forbade him—and this is from his scrupulousness and mindfulness of Allah; he forbade Ibn 'Amir who stood up for him and argued with him using this hadith; he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Mu'awiyah's argumentation with this hadith for the one who stood up for him may not appear clear and obvious; for it is related to the one who loves, and Mu'awiyah does not love him; and therefore he forbade him. So why did he mention it? There is precise jurisprudence in it; as if he is saying to him: You, O 'Abdullah ibn 'Amir, if you stand up for me whenever I enter, perhaps Satan will beautify for me that I love you and others for this standing. If I fall into this love, I will be struck by the warning of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . So who would be the cause? You would be the cause, and others among those who help the co-conspirators in loving this standing by obeying him in standing up.
The one who is strict in a matter is judged by the ruling of the one who performs it. As for looking at people's customs and traditions while leaving the old ways as they are and turning a blind eye to reviving the Sunnah and killing off religious innovation, Islam does not permit this. But it is our duty to clarify the ruling on standing up for the one who enters and the ruling on standing up to the one who enters. This is a point that many scholars, let alone others, do not distinguish between, neither linguistically nor religiously, between "so-and-so stood up for so-and-so" and "so-and-so stood up to so-and-so." Therefore, I wanted to say: but you rushed, and perhaps there is good in rushing here. I wanted to philosophize in my speech, as you heard; meaning, part of what preceded was to lead to the clarification that there is a type of standing that is not covered by our hadith here. But I have tried in myself to speak about this type at the end, after I finish clarifying this standing that is prohibited in some of the hadiths we mentioned earlier. I wanted to arrive finally at the ruling of this standing according to the scholars, and then we clarify a standing of another type, which may be the way out for some of the situations people deal with today. It became clear from what preceded that standing up for the one who enters is a harm for him and a trial for him. For that reason, Mu'awiyah said to the one who stood up for him: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ." He said to him: Do not stand up for me; because your standing will be a trial for me. Do I look forward to this and love this standing from people if they become accustomed to standing up for me? But if they close this door, and it is from the door of blocking the means to harm, that no one stands up for anyone, the custom remains as it exists in some Arab countries: the one who enters comes in, "welcome and easy," the host receives him, treats him well, and seats him in the place that suits him, without any of the guests sitting in the room or in the house standing up.
I said that the scholars differed on this standing; some said it is disliked, and there is no doubt in this; because it is contrary to the Sunnah, as you know, and because it leads people to fall into that major sin which the Messenger threatened regarding, saying: . And some said it is forbidden, not just disliked. Among these is one of the great scholars of the Hanbali school, namely Abu 'Abdullah ibn Battah. This noble scholar was very strict in this standing and explicitly stated that it is forbidden. They mentioned in his biography that he once went out walking with his companion, who was a poet, and they entered the market. They passed by a noble scholar sitting in his shop in his place, and he stood up for Ibn Battah, standing up for him while knowing that Ibn Battah hated this standing intensely—"and upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings, and upon you be peace..."—so that scholar who stood up for Ibn Battah excused himself to him with two verses of poetry. What did he say?
Do not blame me for standing, for my right *** When you appear is that I do not tire of standing
You are the most noble of creation to me *** And it is the truth that I honor the noble ones
This is undoubtedly acceptable speech among people, but it is rejected by this jurist Ibn Battah; and so he said to his companion who was with him, who was a skilled poet, saying: "Answer him for me," and he was his student. So he said to that scholar who stood up for Ibn Battah:
If you are one who does not lack me, tending *** To my right and showing great respect
Then you have the merit in precedence and knowledge, *** And we do not want from you any restraint.
Then pardon me now from this standing of yours *** First, then I will reward you with standing, standing
And I hate that greatly *** For in it is flattery and sin.
Do not burden your brother to remain standing for you *** By what he thereby makes permissible the forbidden
And if our hearts are sound from us *** We are content with not tiring our bodies
We are all confident in the affection of his brother *** So what is our agitation and for what?
The truth is that the last part of the verse is the main point, as they say in this matter; that we train ourselves to rectify our hearts, and that our outward appearances match our hearts, and the matter of this standing is not so. For this reason, this man said:
And if our hearts are sound from us *** We are content with not tiring our bodies
We are all confident in the affection of his brother *** So what is our agitation and for what?
One of my friends in Damascus al-Sham told me about forty years ago, he said: We attended a gathering, and we had barely sat on the chairs when a big rumor went out that now the great prince so-and-so is entering the door of the place. The eyes turned to the entrance... so we stood up. The prince sat, we sat. He said: We had barely sat when a second rumor went out; now the pasha so-and-so is entering. Indeed, the pasha entered, so we stood up, then I sat, and so on. He said: I felt as if under me they say in our Syria: "Zambark," meaning a spring. Is this known? Or a "Rassour" or I don't know what it is called with you?

Another questioner: Zambark.

The Shaykh: "Zambark," good, he said: So I felt as if under me a Zambark was lowering me and raising me... like that. Finally, I said to myself: Until when? By Allah, there is nothing more comfortable than following the Sunnah. By Allah, I am not standing no matter who enters... Indeed, this verse of poetry:
And if our souls are sound *** We are content with not tiring the bodies.
And this is observed in many gatherings if the great ones of the people are present... with people like this standing and sitting. Is this from Islam? This is not from Islam in any way. With this part of the hadith, my speech ends regarding standing up for the one who enters out of honor.
There is a standing of another type, but it is specific to the owner of the house and the master of the house. A guest enters or knocks on the door, and the one coming or the boy says: "O father of so-and-so," he stands up and receives him and welcomes him and seats him in the suitable place for him, as we said earlier. But these guests have no relation to this one who enters, so they do not stand up for him. Rather, they have a specific etiquette, which is to say—(Blessed and Exalted is He)—: ; meaning, as I said, in the morning, the gatherings did not have these chairs and sofas and so on, and... on the ground, and there might be some cushions. The gathering might be full, so people make space to seat their guest. As for standing up... standing up, this is what was spoken about before, and that it is not prescribed. As for standing up to him, and this is from the Sunnah of the owner of the house receiving the guest. From here, it should be distinguished between standing up for the one who enters, which is not prescribed, and standing up to the one who enters, which is prescribed. And here we come to two hadiths that clarify this second standing and not the first:
The first hadith: What al-Bukhari narrated in his *Sahih* from the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he had judged the Banu Qurayzah and Allah had granted him victory over them and they became his captives, they surrendered to him on the condition that the judge be Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, the commander of the Ansar. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted this. So Sa'd ibn Mu'adh came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was on his mount, and he was injured in the tendon of his upper arm; that is, he was ill. He said to his companions from the Ansar: . Some people, even those who wrote on this issue, distorted the hadith for them and wrote and narrated it with the wording: "Stand up for your master!" And the difference is vast between what the Messenger spoke and what the hadith was distorted into. The wording of the Messenger is: . It was distorted for them to: "Stand up for your master." And the difference, if we know the previous research, is that "stand up" means "stand up for your master." If this had been the wording of the Messenger; that is, "stand up for him" in reverence and respect, because he is your chief and your commander, O people of the Ansar. But the wording of the hadith is: . So why did he say: ? That is, help him to dismount from his mount, because he was ill. And this wording came from the hadith of the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) in *Musnad al-Imam Ahmad* with the wording: . Therefore, it is not permissible to understand the hadith to mean "stand up for him" in honor. Rather, the wording of the hadith is: "Stand up to him" and help him to dismount from his mount, so that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) could hear from him what he judged regarding the Jews who accepted the judgment of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh. So this hadith has no relation to the first type of standing, which is for honor and exaltation as people do, but it is from the category of helping this commander, the commander of the Ansar, Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, to dismount. This is the first hadith.
The other hadith: It is also from the narration of the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). She said: . Indeed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when Fatimah entered upon him, he would stand up to her, kiss her, and seat her in his place. And in turn, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon her, she would stand up to him, kiss him, and seat him in her place. And you see here also in standing, but it is not standing... rather it is standing towards the one who enters, and she is his daughter and he is her father, one of them kisses the other, then he honors her by seating her in the place befitting her. This type of standing for reception is permissible, whereas the first type is not permissible. So we must distinguish between the two types of standing.

The questioner: ... This type of standing, if they abandon it.

The Shaykh: What is their concern, ... establishing the Sunnah.

The questioner: Is there a sin on him, ... do we need the answer?

The Shaykh: You, may Allah bless you, you must take matters with ease and calmness, not with enthusiasm. We have clarified the issue. Now, if the one who enters comes in, you are the master of the house, you stand up to him to receive him, but the others have no relation to him. We have clarified the issue. As for you, you are talking about your customs. These customs must be managed so that they align with the Sunnah and do not contradict it. The master of the house is the one who stands up to the guest, but those to your right and left and those who are in the assembly do not have this... and they do not stand up.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: What are we saying?

The questioner: This is another matter... Do I have to stand up? ... Exaltation is different.

The Shaykh: No, if it is not exaltation, why?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: I say why, if so?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Why did he not stand up?

The questioner: ... He greets you and you greet him... .

The Shaykh: Who does he greet?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: The ones sitting?

The questioner: Everyone there... .

The Shaykh: ... The one who entered.

The questioner: They stand up for him.

The Shaykh: Yes, it is necessary.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Glory be to Allah! And the result is also the worship of graves and the display of adornment by women, and so on, is that not the result?

The questioner: Is there blame on this standing?

The Shaykh : On him.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: We mentioned, may Allah bless you, that some of them say: disliked, and some of them say: forbidden. What more is there in the explanation after this?

The questioner : ... .