What is the ruling on drinking the water of Zamzam while standing?

The questioner : Regarding drinking the water of Zamzam while standing, is it permissible?

The Shaykh : Look at the water of Zamzam. It is reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drank while standing, despite the Messenger’s prohibition, as you have just mentioned, against drinking while standing. It was made a necessary sunnah (recommended practice) to drink the water of Zamzam while standing, even though this act of drinking while standing only occurred from the Messenger (peace be upon him) due to the intensity of the crowd. Whoever reads his guidance (peace be upon him) in general, and his journey with his Companions in particular, will clearly see that he did not distinguish himself from his Companions in any way whatsoever. He was not like the rulers of the end times who clear the way for them; rather, they might clear the entire Sacred Mosque for him, let alone the Ka'bah and so on. The Messenger (peace be upon him) did not possess any of these characteristics. Rather, as one of his Companions, Abdullah ibn Qudamah al-'Amiri, described him, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) walked during the Farewell Pilgrimage without any escort or clearing of the way; he walked with them all, and no one said, "Make way, make way for the Messenger." Never. So when he entered and wanted to drink from the water of Zamzam, look at the etiquette of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and let us measure ourselves against him. He asked to drink from the water of Zamzam, so they hurried to bring out a bucket for the water—meaning a large vessel. He said, "No, give me to drink from where the Muslims drink, from the spout." So this Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), if he had wanted to drink while sitting, might have been trampled by their feet due to the intensity of the crowd. It was not his character to instruct his Companions, who sheltered in him, to say to those around the Messenger, "Open the way for you." No; therefore, he drank while standing. Also, it came in some hadiths in Sunan al-Tirmidhi that he came to a suspended water skin, untied its knot, and drank from it while standing. It was suspended, as you know, for cooling; so he drank from it because it was suspended. Thus, drinking while standing was not intended, but rather was a resort to which he was driven. Such specific incidents should not be used to establish general rules. "He prohibited drinking while standing," "He forbade drinking while standing," , and so on, for whoever wants to gain deep understanding of the religion by the permission of the Lord of the Worlds.