The Shaykh’s explanation of the prohibition of standing up for others.

The Shaykh : We have two topics here: one is standing up for the person who arrives, and the other is standing up from one’s seat for the person who arrives; this is a separate issue. As for the first issue, we have discussed it in detail at times, in a moderate way at other times, and briefly at other times. All of these instances were attended by Adnan ibn Abu Adnan, so if someone else is excused for this standing because they heard my opinion and adopted it, following the majority of scholars, let alone others, then they are following a fatwa or an opinion and are not at fault. However, if one heard it in detail the first time, in a moderate way the second time, briefly the third time, and so on, repeatedly, then they are not excused, especially...

The questioner : ...and sometimes regarding the topic.

The Shaykh : This is even more surprising, especially since I wanted to say that if a person stands up, he does not like this standing. But if the person standing is one of the shaykhs whom he fears, he stands up, and by Allah, we excuse him and find an excuse for him. But if this thing were permissible, I would tell you: do not burden yourself, be at ease, why do you burden yourself? I know because you are among the people who are taken as idols, as I say, in many cases, without offense, as idols.The Shaykh ، The Shaykh : He is taken as an idol, but you do not have to be like that. Enough. The point now is that you are full, like in my story, full of research, and it can be said regarding you that the sa' has overflowed; there is no more room. But because we have become acquainted with our brother Abu Jamal, who is new to this, and our sessions with him have not yet been repeated, I see that we should present what we believe and testify to before Allah to his ears, and we should discuss the topic so that each of us hears what the other has, then we will clarify the topic and arrive at the truth, if Allah wills, regarding what people differ on. Now, stay quiet, it is better for you, it is better for you. Now, if we were asked, Abu Malik, do you like anyone to stand up for you?
Abu Malik: No.

The Shaykh : So where is the taking of them as idols? Now, turn and turn, do you like it if I greet you that they stand up for you?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : I do not like it either. We told you to be at ease, you did not agree, what can we do for you?
Abu Malik:The Shaykh : He always says when I see some of the brothers who do not know...The Shaykh : Previously, meaning, I guided you, the awe...The Shaykh .
Al-Halabi : ...idolatry.The Shaykh .

The Shaykh : And we exaggerate it a bit too; because the truth is that the shaykhs have become idols, and we are among the shaykhs who are counted as such.

The questioner : ...and I do not know, fifty, sixty...

The Shaykh : No, it is not possible, what did you forget? It is not right for you to forget, nor have you grown old, we have grown old, O Adnan. It is not right for you to forget. We told you there are two topics. The first topic is not being researched for your sake; because in other words, it is dragging out what has passed. The topic has collapsed with you, collapsed from the repetition and reiteration. But some of our brothers, as we said, may not have heard this topic, so we wanted to present it so that we might find out what they have or hear what they have. The bottom line, O Abu Jamal, is that there is a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Of course, as you know, we do not narrate except what is authentic. As al-Bukhari narrated in al-Adab al-Mufrad with a sound chain from Anas ibn Malik, he said: The speech now is directed to Adnan. We claim that we are not telling you to imitate the Messenger of Allah, and in fact we do imitate him, but imitating the Messenger of Allah is not easy. Therefore, in my fair phrasing, I say we try to imitate, we try to imitate the Messenger; because achieving imitation of him is not an easy matter. But in the sense of what was said:
"So imitate them, even if you are not like them *** For imitating the noble ones is success." So as long as you know that we try to imitate the Messenger, he used to dislike standing up, and we dislike standing up in general. But what we dislike most is with those who have heard our opinion and our dislike of it. This is the first thing that comes up in this topic. No one was dearer to them than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and they did not stand up for him when they knew of his dislike of it. An interjected phrase so that no one says that...The Shaykh : ...we are exaggerating. Now, the son-in-law entered...The Shaykh : ...no one stood up for him. Why? Because they did not have that idolatry to be taken by it and stand up. And the free man is satisfied with a gesture. As for those who say that standing up is recommended as a respect for the Muslim, meaning everyone who enters is respected; now the issue has become a personal one, some people are respected and some are not. We continue the topic. We come to the second hadith . There is no doubt that this hadith is related to the one who enters, and not to every one who enters, but to the one who enters who likes standing up. But the reality and what is observed, which is almost tangible to the touch, is that most of those for whom people stand up, if they do not stand up for them, their heads spin (they are greatly upset). What does this indicate? It indicates that these people like people to stand up for them. And the Messenger says: . At that point, a jurisprudential principle comes here, which is agreed upon by the people of knowledge and jurisprudence, which is yes...
Abu Malik: Before mentioning the principle, because they raise an objection to this hadith from what was known among the non-Arabs. That is, those who stood up used to stand on their heads (stand up from their seats) and they did not stand up for the one entering, but this was specific to those who were seated among the kings of the non-Arabs. So they would stand up for them by remaining in their standing position and in a state of standing. So this is an objection raised against this hadith or this part of the hadith. So it would be good if there were a clarification of this specific word?

The Shaykh : A good question. The answer is that the standing of the non-Arabs for their kings while they are seated is one thing, and their standing for the one entering them is another thing. This is a matter of no doubt and no ambiguity. But the fact that the first standing was what the non-Arabs practiced does not negate that the other standing was part of their custom and tradition. This is known by the inheritance that exists to this day among the disbelievers, a fortiori, and among some Muslims who do not care or at least do not know the Sunnah of the Master of the Messengers. This is from one side. And from another side, what I understand in my learning and in my Arabic is that the meaning of is as if he ordered and the order was executed. Because the language of the situation is more eloquent than the language of speech. When the one entering enters, he looks like this, and the seated people understand that this person likes them to stand up for him, so it is as if he ordered them with the language of the situation. And as it is said, the language of the situation is more eloquent than the language of speech. And on this occasion, I say that if I forget, I will not forget, and I was a student in primary school, in the fourth grade, and I was, and I do not know, the last one, I wanted to be the class monitor. So when the teacher entered, I think this practice is still in effect today. Of course, this is a bad practice, it is not a good one.

The questioner : Standing up.

The Shaykh : The point is that the headmaster would hardly see the teacher approaching without telling them, "Get ready for him." The first thing that happens when he enters is that everyone stands up; we all stood up. That was how we used to do it. I would see this teacher entering, and his condition would be such that he could not look at the back of the rows. There would be some friction between him and some of the students. You know, of course, he had just some cleverness, experience, and intuition. When he would see an empty spot at a desk, he would know that a student was hiding there, but this was not hidden from him. He would stand up, look around, and then strike him with his hand or his feet. Why? Because he had not stood up. This became one of the virtues that students offered to teachers, until Shawqi said his famous line: "Stand up for the teacher and give him honor, for the teacher is almost a prophet." What Allah willed. The point is this teacher and his like. Who can say that he does not love people standing up for him? And who can say that he loves people standing up for him? He does not need to order them, because as we said, the language of the situation is more eloquent than the language of speech. So, as the hadith indicates to you... We said that it is necessary here to recall a jurisprudential rule, which falls under the category of blocking the means to harm. So, this person who loves standing up for him should not be stood up for. The door of blocking the means to harm proceeds in two ways: that we do not stand up for these people. Of course, we do not enter into the category of dire necessity here, for fear that later such a teacher will strike us, and his strike might be stronger than his previous one, and so on. Rather, we speak without harming the dire necessities that permit the prohibited. So, it becomes clear that this customary standing up in this time is not, at the very least, an Islamic etiquette. At the very least, the brothers who love each other for the sake of Allah should, at the very least, refrain from this standing up between them, between one another, at the very least. As for a society that cannot be reformed with a kind word, people deal with it according to their knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and experience, and so on. This research, as our brothers know, has ramifications and branches, but I want to conclude it with a story so that we can move on to the other issue. The story is that one of the scholars of hadith, Abu 'Abdullah ibn Battah, used to consider this standing up to be forbidden, and he was famous for that among the people in that time. He had a companion who was a poet. They passed by one of the scholars in his shop, and the poet had no choice but to stand up for him, as was his custom, but pay attention to the answer. He said to him, knowing his opinion, two lines of poetry.
"Do not blame me for standing up, for my right when you appear is that there is no hope of standing up. You are the most noble of creation to me, and it is the truth that I honor the noble ones."