Is it permissible for a man to give up his seat to someone older than him on a bus or elsewhere?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : If you mean on a vehicle, like the bus we were riding in just now, and one of them stood up and said to you, "Please, sit down," is there any defect or issue with the other person?
The Shaykh : There is something.
The questioner : What is it?
The Shaykh : .
The questioner : Do we call this a vehicle or a seat?
The Shaykh : No, it is a seat. I did not mention a vehicle. It is a seat on the bus. On the bus, he is sitting in his seat, so it is a seat. I am not speaking of the bus as a vehicle, for example. I am speaking of the seat, just as I am not speaking of a house that might be spacious, but rather the seat in which the guest is sitting. Then another person comes and stands up for him from his seat.
The questioner : In any case, this statement is absolute, even if there is an elderly man or such and such.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is absolute, and there is no difference in that, as you hear.
Another questioner : How do we honor our elders and our youth?
The Shaykh : In a way that does not involve transgression—may Allah reward you.
The questioner : And what is it?
The Shaykh : In a way that does not involve transgression of the text. For example, if you find a shaded spot, for instance, and you lower him into it, have you not honored him?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, but you are sitting in this place, and you stood up for him and seated him in your seat. This is a form that explicitly contradicts the hadith. So, we honor the elder and we recognize the right of our scholar without transgressing a legal text. For this reason, it came in the previous hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari that Ibn Umar, when he entered a gathering and a man stood up for him, would not sit in it and would say: He said, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: And without a doubt—Ibn Umar—first, he was a Companion and a great scholar, so he was not pleased to sit in the place that was cleared for him. So, I have presented to you two scenarios: one involves applying the hadith you mentioned, which is honoring the scholar Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1919Hasan (Darussalam), and the other scenario involves transgressing the hadith, so the scholar is not honored by transgression. Therefore, the narrator of the hadith, Abdullah ibn Umar, was not pleased with this kind of honoring, so he would not sit.
The questioner : Our Shaykh, if it were... like a bus, the bus has no space for him.The Shaykh : The elderly man or this sick person, that he sits. If he stands, he will be harmed or tired or distressed, and I am young and strong enough to stand.
The Shaykh : Another clarified scenario. The written one is clear from its title, so this is permissible and has no relation to what we are discussing. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : There is something.
The questioner : What is it?
The Shaykh :
A man does not stand up for a man from his seat, but make room and expand.
لا يقوم الرجل للرجل من مجلسه ولكن تفسحوا وتوسعواThe questioner : Do we call this a vehicle or a seat?
The Shaykh : No, it is a seat. I did not mention a vehicle. It is a seat on the bus. On the bus, he is sitting in his seat, so it is a seat. I am not speaking of the bus as a vehicle, for example. I am speaking of the seat, just as I am not speaking of a house that might be spacious, but rather the seat in which the guest is sitting. Then another person comes and stands up for him from his seat.
The questioner : In any case, this statement is absolute, even if there is an elderly man or such and such.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is absolute, and there is no difference in that, as you hear.
Another questioner : How do we honor our elders and our youth?
The Shaykh : In a way that does not involve transgression—may Allah reward you.
The questioner : And what is it?
The Shaykh : In a way that does not involve transgression of the text. For example, if you find a shaded spot, for instance, and you lower him into it, have you not honored him?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, but you are sitting in this place, and you stood up for him and seated him in your seat. This is a form that explicitly contradicts the hadith. So, we honor the elder and we recognize the right of our scholar without transgressing a legal text. For this reason, it came in the previous hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari that Ibn Umar, when he entered a gathering and a man stood up for him, would not sit in it and would say: He said, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him:
A man does not stand up for a man from his seat, but make room and expand.
لا يقوم الرجل للرجل من مجلسه ولكن تفسحوا وتوسعواHe is not one of us who does not have mercy on our young and does not respect our elders.
ليس منا من لم يرحم صغيرَنا ويوقر كبيرَنا ويعرف لعالمنا حقهThe questioner : Our Shaykh, if it were... like a bus, the bus has no space for him.The Shaykh : The elderly man or this sick person, that he sits. If he stands, he will be harmed or tired or distressed, and I am young and strong enough to stand.
The Shaykh : Another clarified scenario. The written one is clear from its title, so this is permissible and has no relation to what we are discussing. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.