Is it permissible to eat while standing?
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The questioner : Question, O Shaykh, does what applies to food apply to drink, or does the ruling on drink apply to food regarding sitting, standing, leaning, or otherwise?
The Shaykh : Do you mean to ask whether the rulings on drinking, such as standing, apply to food?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I say there is no text prohibiting eating while standing, as there is a text prohibiting drinking while standing. However, there is a report (athar) from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that when he told those around him in the gathering that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited drinking while standing, someone asked him, "What about eating?" He said, "It is worse."
The Shaykh: He said, "It is worse." This Companion, I say here, we should follow him, because we have nothing to contradict him with. But we must distinguish between eating while standing and eating while walking. Eating while walking is permissible because there is an explicit text that they used to eat while walking in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh: As for eating while standing, there is no text from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), neither negative nor positive. We only have this authentic report from Anas ibn Malik, and we act upon it. In addition to this, there is something else. Perhaps some of you have noticed in this era that it has become a fashion of the disbelievers to eat while standing, even though chairs are present, but they do not sit on them out of arrogance. In that case, the previous ruling becomes stronger.
The questioner : ... ؟
The Shaykh : Yes, so we say: We are with the report of Anas, because Anas knows what we do not know, and because the disbelievers today, and the Muslims who imitate them, eat while standing, so we oppose them.
The questioner : Okay, what do we do if we are invited to a feast like this, and there is absolutely no room to sit on the ground?
The Shaykh : No, there is room to sit on a chair. May Allah reward you.
The questioner : There are no chairs...
The Shaykh : I mean, we found a chair in the desert, in the countryside. There are no chairs there.
The questioner : No, they don't have chairs.
Another questioner : Let's rest a little.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : Rest. Let's get coffee and tea.
The Shaykh : Do as you please. I say to Abu Saleh, this perception, I do not want you to imagine that there is no solution to it, because these disbelievers, it is not imagined that there would be no chair in that place. But I imagine that a weak man like me would be shy to say, "Guys, I need a chair because I do not eat while standing." This is possible. But that there is no chair in that spacious place, with all the preparations for standing on one's feet, no chair or five or ten, you see no chair, this is true, but they would be placed in another place, in another room, this exists without a doubt.
The questioner : This is a host.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : I mean, a host for standing to eat... tickets.
The Shaykh : I know.
The questioner : They have...
The Shaykh : I have answered you.
The questioner : They have ground, O...?
The Shaykh : No, listen to me, we do not want to reach the ground. I have answered you that they have a room where there must be a chair, but we need to have the courage to affirm our Islam, to affirm our Shari'ah.
The questioner : Be strong.
The Shaykh : Today, unfortunately, many young people in their country wear the Arab Islamic suit, but when they leave their country to the lands of disbelief, they take off the clothes of the Muslims and wear the clothes of the disbelievers. Why? Because they are shy to appear in the appearance of Muslims before the disbelievers. This is weakness without a doubt, and therefore the Messenger (peace be upon him) prohibited going to the lands of disbelief and said: because this, or this residence, affects the morale of this resident and changes his nature and thoughts.
The Shaykh: And so the first Arab would enter upon the king of the Persians and the Romans in his Arab attire, while you might be adorned with golden clothes and weapons, and he would not care. Even in some narrations, al-Mughirah entered upon the king of Persia and the spear stuck in the ground and what? It pierced the carpet, and he did not care, because it is the custom of the Arabs, their spears.
The questioner : Strength.
The Shaykh : Strength.
The Shaykh: Where are we today, we can go and change our attire and appearance, so my brother Yunes, when you imagine the matter this narrowly, may our Lord make it easy for him or make a way out for him, but as they say in our region in the Levant: instead of shaking shoulders, it needs action.
The questioner : My master, to complete the question, does it apply to drink in terms of sufficiency, we know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Ash-Shama'il Al-Muhammadiyah 131Sahih (Zubair `Aliza'i) Does this apply to drink?
The Shaykh : It appears that it does, but one should be aware that the hadith does not mean prohibition, but rather it means recommendation and the best is other than the prohibition of eating while leaning. Clear?
The questioner : Clear, we are strict, by Allah, in the issue of eating.
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : We are strict in the issue of leaning.
The Shaykh : No, the strictness is not that, if we do not have a text, we do not be strict. You say: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked eating while leaning and said: as I said: , but if a Muslim contradicts any of that, he has not committed a sin.
The questioner : He has not become sinful.
The Shaykh : Yes, he has not committed a sin, but rather he has contradicted what is better.
The questioner : Was he able to perform the sitting of the Sunnah on the chair?
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : If he requests a chair, he can sit on it in the sitting of the Sunnah. If he requests a chair at the food, he can sit on it in the Sunnah?
The Shaykh : I understood everything, but what you said, can he what?
The questioner : Sit on it in the sitting of the Sunnah?
The Shaykh : How do you mean?
The questioner : Sit on the chair in the Sunnah, I mean.
The Shaykh : How do you mean?
The questioner : Raise his leg, bend his left leg, and extend the right one?
The Shaykh : How do you mean?
The questioner : As we know that the sitting of the Sunnah is to spread the left leg and extend the right one.
The Shaykh : It is not leaving things and things, because he is sick. No, this argument does not apply here, we said it does not apply, leaving the obligatory, which is standing.
The questioner : I most of the time, may Allah reward you, when I was saying this, because if I sat like this, praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, my leg would feel a little better and I would be a little tired of it, meaning something simple, it is not on me, and I am a little tired of it, and I find this more comfortable and steadier for me, is there anything on me for that?
The Shaykh : No, there is nothing on you. First, what you mentioned earlier, that this does not involve committing a sin or disobedience, and secondly: you mention an excuse, and the excuse removes the sin and removes the disobedience. Then some of them call this leaning, sitting cross-legged like this, some of them call it leaning, and they include it under the generality of his saying (peace be upon him): But what appears is that the leaning intended in this hadith is the leaning that represents the arrogance of the arrogant, which is to be on one's side, and this leaning is what we know from the hadiths of the Messenger (peace be upon him), as it came in the authentic hadith: , so he was leaning, not like this, and he sat, because you are sitting, you are now sitting, but he was leaning, so he sat. So the leaning that comes to mind from his saying (peace be upon him): is this leaning, and in that case, if the one sitting cross-legged did not have pain in his leg, there is no harm on him in this sitting, because no dislike has come for it. But there is another form which is iq'a', do you know iq'a'?
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Yes, well done, O Abu Saleh. Look how the Arabs understand, we... Arabs... if we asked the Arabs here what iq'a' is, they would not know. This is iq'a', so if a Muslim wanted to and was sound in body, does he follow him (peace be upon him), he does iq'a', he does iq'a', but not on the basis of obligation, but on the basis of recommendation.
The questioner : There is wisdom in it.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : By Allah, I know there is wisdom in it.
The Shaykh : All of it is wisdom, all of it is wisdom, because the sitting is the same, as in the Arabic language also, the sitting of the one who is ready, the one who is ready means he is about to sleep, he does not really get up, meaning, while we sit cross-legged, let's go. Here...
The questioner : ...May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And you, if Allah wills, may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Do you mean to ask whether the rulings on drinking, such as standing, apply to food?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I say there is no text prohibiting eating while standing, as there is a text prohibiting drinking while standing. However, there is a report (athar) from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that when he told those around him in the gathering that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited drinking while standing, someone asked him, "What about eating?" He said, "It is worse."
The Shaykh: He said, "It is worse." This Companion, I say here, we should follow him, because we have nothing to contradict him with. But we must distinguish between eating while standing and eating while walking. Eating while walking is permissible because there is an explicit text that they used to eat while walking in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh: As for eating while standing, there is no text from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), neither negative nor positive. We only have this authentic report from Anas ibn Malik, and we act upon it. In addition to this, there is something else. Perhaps some of you have noticed in this era that it has become a fashion of the disbelievers to eat while standing, even though chairs are present, but they do not sit on them out of arrogance. In that case, the previous ruling becomes stronger.
The questioner : ... ؟
The Shaykh : Yes, so we say: We are with the report of Anas, because Anas knows what we do not know, and because the disbelievers today, and the Muslims who imitate them, eat while standing, so we oppose them.
The questioner : Okay, what do we do if we are invited to a feast like this, and there is absolutely no room to sit on the ground?
The Shaykh : No, there is room to sit on a chair. May Allah reward you.
The questioner : There are no chairs...
The Shaykh : I mean, we found a chair in the desert, in the countryside. There are no chairs there.
The questioner : No, they don't have chairs.
Another questioner : Let's rest a little.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : Rest. Let's get coffee and tea.
The Shaykh : Do as you please. I say to Abu Saleh, this perception, I do not want you to imagine that there is no solution to it, because these disbelievers, it is not imagined that there would be no chair in that place. But I imagine that a weak man like me would be shy to say, "Guys, I need a chair because I do not eat while standing." This is possible. But that there is no chair in that spacious place, with all the preparations for standing on one's feet, no chair or five or ten, you see no chair, this is true, but they would be placed in another place, in another room, this exists without a doubt.
The questioner : This is a host.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : I mean, a host for standing to eat... tickets.
The Shaykh : I know.
The questioner : They have...
The Shaykh : I have answered you.
The questioner : They have ground, O...?
The Shaykh : No, listen to me, we do not want to reach the ground. I have answered you that they have a room where there must be a chair, but we need to have the courage to affirm our Islam, to affirm our Shari'ah.
The questioner : Be strong.
The Shaykh : Today, unfortunately, many young people in their country wear the Arab Islamic suit, but when they leave their country to the lands of disbelief, they take off the clothes of the Muslims and wear the clothes of the disbelievers. Why? Because they are shy to appear in the appearance of Muslims before the disbelievers. This is weakness without a doubt, and therefore the Messenger (peace be upon him) prohibited going to the lands of disbelief and said:
The believer and the polytheist do not see each other’s fires; I am disavowed of any Muslim who resides among the polytheists.
المؤمن والمشرك لا تتراءى نارهما، أنا بريء من مسلم يقيم بين ظهراني المشركينThe Shaykh: And so the first Arab would enter upon the king of the Persians and the Romans in his Arab attire, while you might be adorned with golden clothes and weapons, and he would not care. Even in some narrations, al-Mughirah entered upon the king of Persia and the spear stuck in the ground and what? It pierced the carpet, and he did not care, because it is the custom of the Arabs, their spears.
The questioner : Strength.
The Shaykh : Strength.
The Shaykh: Where are we today, we can go and change our attire and appearance, so my brother Yunes, when you imagine the matter this narrowly, may our Lord make it easy for him or make a way out for him, but as they say in our region in the Levant: instead of shaking shoulders, it needs action.
The questioner : My master, to complete the question, does it apply to drink in terms of sufficiency, we know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
I eat as a slave eats and I sit as a slave sits.
آكل كما يأكل العبد وأجلس كما يجلس العبدAs for me, I do not eat while leaning on a support!
أما أنا فلا آكل متكئاThe Shaykh : It appears that it does, but one should be aware that the hadith does not mean prohibition, but rather it means recommendation and the best is
I do not eat while reclining.
لا آكل متكئًاThe questioner : Clear, we are strict, by Allah, in the issue of eating.
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : We are strict in the issue of leaning.
The Shaykh : No, the strictness is not that, if we do not have a text, we do not be strict. You say: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked eating while leaning and said:
I am only a slave.
أنا إنما عبدI eat as a slave eats and I sit as a slave sits.
آكل كما يأكل العبد وأجلس كما يجلس العبدThe questioner : He has not become sinful.
The Shaykh : Yes, he has not committed a sin, but rather he has contradicted what is better.
The questioner : Was he able to perform the sitting of the Sunnah on the chair?
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : If he requests a chair, he can sit on it in the sitting of the Sunnah. If he requests a chair at the food, he can sit on it in the Sunnah?
The Shaykh : I understood everything, but what you said, can he what?
The questioner : Sit on it in the sitting of the Sunnah?
The Shaykh : How do you mean?
The questioner : Sit on the chair in the Sunnah, I mean.
The Shaykh : How do you mean?
The questioner : Raise his leg, bend his left leg, and extend the right one?
The Shaykh : How do you mean?
The questioner : As we know that the sitting of the Sunnah is to spread the left leg and extend the right one.
The Shaykh : It is not leaving things and things, because he is sick. No, this argument does not apply here, we said it does not apply, leaving the obligatory, which is standing.
The questioner : I most of the time, may Allah reward you, when I was saying this, because if I sat like this, praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, my leg would feel a little better and I would be a little tired of it, meaning something simple, it is not on me, and I am a little tired of it, and I find this more comfortable and steadier for me, is there anything on me for that?
The Shaykh : No, there is nothing on you. First, what you mentioned earlier, that this does not involve committing a sin or disobedience, and secondly: you mention an excuse, and the excuse removes the sin and removes the disobedience. Then some of them call this leaning, sitting cross-legged like this, some of them call it leaning, and they include it under the generality of his saying (peace be upon him):
I do not eat while reclining.
لا آكل متكئًاThe greatest of the major sins is associating partners with Allah, being undutiful to parents, and giving false testimony. And [he said], “I give false testimony,” and he was reclining, so he sat up.
أكبر الكبائر الإشراك بالله وعقوق الوالدين وشهادة الزور ألا وشهادة الزور، وكان متكئًا فجلسI do not eat while reclining.
لا آكل متكئًاHe eats as a servant eats
آكل كما يأكل العبدThe questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Yes, well done, O Abu Saleh. Look how the Arabs understand, we... Arabs... if we asked the Arabs here what iq'a' is, they would not know. This is iq'a', so if a Muslim wanted to and was sound in body, does he follow him (peace be upon him), he does iq'a', he does iq'a', but not on the basis of obligation, but on the basis of recommendation.
The questioner : There is wisdom in it.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : By Allah, I know there is wisdom in it.
The Shaykh : All of it is wisdom, all of it is wisdom, because the sitting is the same, as in the Arabic language also, the sitting of the one who is ready, the one who is ready means he is about to sleep, he does not really get up, meaning, while we sit cross-legged, let's go. Here...
The questioner : ...May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And you, if Allah wills, may Allah reward you with good.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.