Do foods have the same jurisprudential rulings as drinks?

The questioner : Regarding the same question, is food the same thing, and what about any drink other than water?

The Shaykh : As for food, we do not have a hadith from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the limit of the question, but we have the hadith: "We used to eat and drink while standing in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)." We know the ruling on drinking, but as for eating, we used to eat while walking, do you see? "We used to eat while walking and drink while standing." So drinking while standing means the previous discussion has concluded the matter. What remains is that they used to eat while walking as well, and this remains as it is because we have nothing to contradict it. However, regarding the limit of the question, we have the athar that I mentioned earlier, which is that Anas ibn Malik, when he narrated the prohibition, and it is in Sahih Muslim , he was asked: "What about eating?" He said: "That is worse." This is the exact answer to your question. Here it is said: Is the statement of a Companion a proof or not? When the Companion was asked this question, he said eating is worse. Does he mean it is worse than drinking while standing? Is his statement a proof? What I am confident in is that the statement of a Companion, when there is nothing from the Shari'ah—such as a verse or hadith—contradicting it, and when it has no opponent among the other Companions, we must follow his example, emulate him, and take his words, because he saw what we did not see and knew what we do not know, and so on. Therefore, the precise jurisprudential answer is to say that regarding drinking while standing, we have hadiths that prohibit it strongly. As for eating while standing, we have only this athar, and we believe it is obligatory to follow this athar. But it is not permissible to turn this athar into a marfu' hadith and say it is attributed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) unless it is established. We must clarify the reality and then tell the questioner that we must emulate this noble Companion because, to our knowledge, there is nothing that contradicts him. Is that clear?

The questioner : Clear.

The questioner : As for drinking, is it water or all drinks?

The Shaykh : Anything that can be described as drinking while standing. For example, if I drink milk, is it correct to say "drinking" or not?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : That is it.

The questioner : May Allah bless you, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.