What is the meaning of the hadith: "Rise to your master"? And is it used as evidence for the permissibility of standing up for someone who enters the gathering?
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The questioner : A good Shaykh. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the Companions, saying, "Rise to your master," in the story of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh?
The Shaykh : Authentic. What did he (peace be upon him) say?
The questioner : "Rise to your master," because they were with men.
The Shaykh : Good. And this aligns with our statement that the master of the house stands up for him, but this is a different matter. He is asking about a man who has just entered.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... The brother's speech is that he will be his brother.
The questioner : Yes...
The Shaykh : First, the hadith as you narrated it, and you narrated it well, because many people narrate it poorly, where they narrate it with the wording "Rise to your master". So you narrated it well when you said. The meaning of "Rise to your master, so lower him" has no relation whatsoever to the subject of the question, because as I said, "Rise to your master, so lower him," and this is not from the subject you asked about.
The questioner : It is not cited as evidence.
The Shaykh : It is not cited as evidence, especially since the issue came in two narrations, one concise and the other somewhat extended. The concise one is in Sahih al-Bukhari, from the narration of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, that Sa'd ibn Mu'adh came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to judge between him and the Jews, the Jews of Banu Qurayzah. He was ill, injured in his ankle, riding on his mount. So he said to the Ansar: This is the narration in Sahih al-Bukhari from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri. But the hadith came with a more complete narration in Musnad Imam Ahmad, from the narration of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), where she said, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Sahih Ibn Hibban 63:176 So lower him. This addition, as they say today, put the dots on the letters, removed the ambiguity, and clarified that his command (peace be upon him) to the Ansar to rise to him was not for exaltation and honor, but for lowering him, because he was ill. And the question was only: if the one who enters the gathering, do the seated ones stand up in honor of him or not? The answer is no. And the hadith appeared to have no relation to the subject. As for the answer being no, it is because there is another authentic hadith that Imam al-Bukhari extracted in his book Al-Adab al-Mufrad. Al-Adab al-Mufrad is a separate book from Sahih al-Bukhari. Sahih al-Bukhari has ninety-seven books: the Book of Faith, the Book of Knowledge, the Book of Ghusl, the Book of Menstruation, the Book of Prayer, the Book of Wudu, and so on from these books. There is a book called the Book of Adab. This Book of Adab is in Sahih al-Bukhari. But as is known from al-Bukhari's methodology in the Sahih, he does not narrate in it except the most authentic hadiths that were established with him. Then it occurred to Imam al-Bukhari to compile a book broader than the Book of Adab in the Sahih, so he called it the Book of Al-Adab al-Mufrad, meaning separated from the Sahih. And in this book, he narrates the authentic and what is below it, unlike Sahih al-Bukhari. So he narrated in his book Al-Adab al-Mufrad with an authentic chain from Anas ibn Malik, who said: "No person was more beloved to them than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) So the Master of Mankind (may the prayers and blessings of Allah be upon him), who is the most deserving of people of exaltation and honor, but what exaltation and what honor? Only the prescribed exaltation. If this standing had been from the prescribed honor, the Messenger (peace be upon him) would not have disliked it from his Companions, and his Companions would have been the quickest of people to honor him with such standing. And Anas ibn Malik, who served the Messenger (peace be upon him) for ten years and knew his character and traits completely, narrates to us and says: "No person was more beloved to them," meaning the Companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him), in sight, and yet they did not stand up for him because of what they knew of his dislike of that. So this standing that is customary today among people is not from the means of prescribed honor, but it is from the disliked means. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have disliked this standing if it had been prescribed honor. And the reason for that is that it is a custom of the foreign, disbelieving nations. And as you see, even now this custom continues in those lands, and most Muslims imitate the disbelievers today, except those whom Allah protects, and they are few. So it is not befitting for the people of knowledge to seek from people their honoring them by standing up for them, because what was not for the Messenger (peace be upon him), who we mentioned earlier is the Master of Mankind, what was not an honor for him will not be an honor for anyone else (may the prayers and blessings of Allah be upon him) from this honor. And it still exists in many non-Arab lands: bowing when a man sees the noble, virtuous scholar, he bows to him like this. And this exists in the lands of India, Pakistan, and others. And this is from what the prohibition came regarding. And al-Tirmidhi and others narrated from Anas also: So bowing is not a means of honor, for the Messenger (peace be upon him) prohibited it. Likewise, standing, he (peace be upon him) disliked it, so it is not a means of honor. And the greatest of what is contrary to the Shari'ah is prostrating to the Shaykhs. And this exists with some of the Sufis, where he asks permission from the Shaykh to enter, so he bows to him prostrating. And this is from what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited. Please.
The questioner : He is greeting me, he is bowing like this. How is it that he is greeting me while I am sitting, as if he bowed to me.
The Shaykh : Good, let's try the matter. How do we greet? No, no. Good, is there something in it?
The questioner : He is bowing.
The Shaykh : He is bowing. You just dwell on this last phrase and that's it. Now it is not a matter of bowing.
The questioner : We have people who bow.
The Shaykh : O Shaykh, it is not just with you; the whole world is like this. And not in this time only, but from old. Since people started deviating from the Sunnah, the customs of the non-Arabs became the customs of the Muslim nations.
The Shaykh : Authentic. What did he (peace be upon him) say?
The questioner : "Rise to your master," because they were with men.
The Shaykh : Good. And this aligns with our statement that the master of the house stands up for him, but this is a different matter. He is asking about a man who has just entered.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... The brother's speech is that he will be his brother.
The questioner : Yes...
The Shaykh : First, the hadith as you narrated it, and you narrated it well, because many people narrate it poorly, where they narrate it with the wording "Rise to your master". So you narrated it well when you said
Rise to your master.
قوموا إلى سيدكمThe questioner : It is not cited as evidence.
The Shaykh : It is not cited as evidence, especially since the issue came in two narrations, one concise and the other somewhat extended. The concise one is in Sahih al-Bukhari, from the narration of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, that Sa'd ibn Mu'adh came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to judge between him and the Jews, the Jews of Banu Qurayzah. He was ill, injured in his ankle, riding on his mount. So he said to the Ansar:
Rise to your master.
قوموا إلى سيدكمRise to your master, so lower him
قوموا إلى سيدكم فأنزلوهAnd they did not stand up for him because of what they knew of his dislike of that
وكانوا لا يقومون له لما يعلمون من كراهيته لذلكThat a man said: O Messenger of Allah, if one of us meets his brother, does he bow to him? He said: No. He said: Does he kiss him? He said: No. He said: Does he shake hands with him? He said: Yes
أن رجلا قال يا رسول الله أحدنا يلقى أخاه أفينحني له قال لا قال أفيقبله قال لا قال أفيصافحه قال نعمThe questioner : He is greeting me, he is bowing like this. How is it that he is greeting me while I am sitting, as if he bowed to me.
The Shaykh : Good, let's try the matter. How do we greet? No, no. Good, is there something in it?
The questioner : He is bowing.
The Shaykh : He is bowing. You just dwell on this last phrase and that's it. Now it is not a matter of bowing.
The questioner : We have people who bow.
The Shaykh : O Shaykh, it is not just with you; the whole world is like this. And not in this time only, but from old. Since people started deviating from the Sunnah, the customs of the non-Arabs became the customs of the Muslim nations.