Rulings on Standing for Others

The Shaykh : My intention with the speech I began when I entered this hall, which is, if Allah wills, filled with knowledge and faith, was to lay the groundwork for a point I wish to remind you of. I said that some of our brothers present here, we saw them for the first time this night, even though we may have seen them previously some time ago. But you, for example, and some of your brothers, we are new to you, as we were sitting with you just recently. I want to be honest and say that if our brothers whom we saw tonight have an excuse for standing up toThe Shaykh : ...and not standing up for him, if they have an excuse, which is that they are seeing him for the first time on this journey. So what is your excuse, since you are new to us? Your standing is not standing for reception, but standing for honoring and respecting. And here is the crux of the matter, as they say, in this speech. I mean, standing for reception may be prescribed, standing for reception, meaning toward the one who is coming, not standing for the one who is coming. And we must remember the difference between standing toward so-and-so and standing for so-and-so. This is a very important matter, meaning distinguishing between "he stood for so-and-so" and "he stood toward so-and-so," because negligence regarding this difference between "toward" (ila) and "for" (li) leads to misunderstanding the words of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in some of his authentic hadiths. And unfortunately, this has occurred in some places. If what happened had only happened among some students of knowledge, and the students of hadith today, the matter would have been easy. But it happened among scholars who are known for their knowledge, understanding, and jurisprudence. It is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari that when Sa'd ibn Mu'adh came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions), and the Jews had accepted him as a judge between them and the Messenger (peace be upon him), he came wounded on his mount. He had been injured in his eye socket and his arm in the battle. So he (peace be upon him) said to his followers, the Ansar: Some scholars understood that this hadith indicates the permissibility of standing for the one who enters, for the sake of honoring him. And here is the point of the reminder, between "toward" and "for" so-and-so. We argue with the hadith that it indicates the permissibility of those sitting standing up for the one who enters, as a sign of respect. Other scholars responded that this argument is flawed, indeed it is criticized with an obvious criticism, for two reasons. First, the context of the hadith is and not "Stand up for your master." Second, the reason for the hadith's occurrence necessitates that its narration be as it is, or as its reality is, "toward your master," because he came, as we mentioned earlier, on his mount, ill, so he ordered his companions to help him dismount from his mount. Therefore, he (peace be upon him) said: Then another narration came. This first narration in Sahih al-Bukhari is from the narration of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri. Then another narration came in Musnad Imam Ahmad from the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), who narrates the story in its entirety and narrates this part of the hadith with an addition that is considered, as they say today, putting the dots on the i's. She narrated the hadith with the wording: And with this, the argument using the hadith has fallen from its root, in the understanding that it is a legislation for those sitting to stand up toward the one who enters as a sign of respect. It explicitly states that the command was only for dismounting, so his companions, the Ansar, stood up and dismounted him from his mount. So there is nothing in the Sunnah that indicates, absolutely, this custom which, unfortunately, continues in all Islamic countries. I do not say among all Islamic sects or groups, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) says, as you know, or according to the narrations. They think that this kind of standing for the one who enters is a praiseworthy standing for respect. And respecting the believer, without doubt and without question, is commanded as a general command, especially if he is a noble scholar, and more specifically if he is a distinguished Shaykh. It is authentic from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said: But reverence and respect are not to be shown except within the limits and on the path that the Messenger (peace be upon him) established. Perhaps you remember with me the story of Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) when he returned from Sham to Madinah. When his eyes fell upon the Prophet (peace be upon him), he intended to prostrate to him (peace be upon him). This was not worship of him, but in his perception, at least, it was honoring and respecting the Messenger (peace be upon him). So he forbade him from that and disapproved of it. He said, "O Messenger of Allah, I came to Sham and saw the Christians prostrating to their priests and monks, and I saw that you are more deserving of prostration than they are." The truth is, this logic is the logic of many Shaykhs or scholars who are thought to be correct in their knowledge, whether right or wrong. This is a second issue. Those who judge with their minds... Mu'adh ibn Jabal, in this incident, compared the Christians and their priests with the Muslims and their Prophet. He expressed what was in his heart: "I saw the Christians prostrating to their priests and monks, and I saw that you are more deserving of prostration than they are." This is sound logic if the original act of prostration were prescribed in our religion, and I say in our religion. But the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: And I am adding this now so as not to take too much of your time. I wanted to mention that standing up from one's seat for the one who enters, for the sake of honoring and revering him, is not a Sunnah. And there is a connection to this in the research. So let us make room to listen to some questions.