The ruling on saying "Haniyyan" (a pleasant drink) to one who drinks water.

The questioner : Haniyyan, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : I am telling you "Haniyyan," and I am not telling you "Haniyyan." Do you know how? Because this is a custom that is followed: whenever a person drinks, they say "Haniyyan" to him, so it has become like a followed Sunnah. If a person like me were to drink, for example, and the people were looking at him with a look that exceeds his actual status, and they drank and were not told "Haniyyan," it would remain strange, even though there is nothing wrong with it. Why? Because the Master of mankind (peace and blessings be upon him), the best of mankind, and the best of all people, drank among the people, and none of them said "Haniyyan" to him. But I told you "Haniyyan" why? Because we learned it, and we are not held accountable for there being something in it that we move on from to something else. But it is like a garden with pairs of every fruit. This is the knowledge. It came in "Mustadrak al-Hakim" and "Sunan al-Tirmidhi" that a man sneezed in the gathering of Ibn 'Umar, so he said, "Alhamdulillah and prayers upon the Messenger of Allah." He said, "And I say Alhamdulillah and prayers upon the Messenger of Allah, but this is not how the Messenger of Allah taught us. Say, 'Alhamdulillah Rabb al-'Alamin' (Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds)." In another narration, "Alhamdulillah fi kull hal" (Praise be to Allah in every state). What did this man do? He added the sending of prayers upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) after the sneezing, following the praise. Is the sending of prayers upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) a religious innovation? The sending of prayers upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is not a religious innovation. No Muslim, even if he were from the most ignorant of the ignorant, would say that the sending of prayers upon the Prophet is a religious innovation. But the scholars of knowledge say that sometimes the sending of prayers upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in a certain time, in a certain place, is a religious innovation. So it is not said that the sending of prayers upon the Messenger is a religious innovation. But the correct expression is to say that placing the sending of prayers upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in a place where Allah has not legislated it through our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is the religious innovation. It is not that the sending of prayers upon the Messenger is a religious innovation, but rather placing this sending of prayers in a place where Allah has not legislated it is the religious innovation. We took this etiquette from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar. What did he say to the one who sneezed and praised and sent prayers? He did not say to him, "This is a religious innovation," as some of the people who are enthusiastic for the Sunnah do, but they are bad at what? Expression. They say, "My brother, do not send prayers upon the Prophet, this is a religious innovation." That poor man does not understand what is said to him, just as this one did not understand how to advise and how to remind. Consequently, that one did not understand his intent, and the people here say, "These are a group that denies the sending of prayers upon the Messenger." The reason goes back to the one who enjoins good and forbids evil, and to the listener as well. Why? Because each of them needs knowledge. So we took this etiquette. The man heard him saying, "Alhamdulillah and prayers upon the Messenger of Allah," and he knew that placing the sending of prayers upon the Messenger of Allah in this place is contrary to the Sunnah. So he did not rush to deny it, and he did not say to him, "My brother, do not send prayers upon the Messenger (peace be upon him) here, at least." But he took it from the perspective of Shari'ah policy. And I say with you, "Alhamdulillah and prayers upon the Messenger of Allah," but not just here. It came after the result, but this is not how the Messenger of Allah taught us. What did he teach us? Only "Alhamdulillah." So now, a drinker of water drinks, and it is said to him, "Haniyyan." What am I telling you? No, "Haniyyan" is not permissible. I say with you "Haniyyan," but I do not say it in this place, because the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not establish this congratulation for the Muslims, like many things that have become part of the religion. The Muslim greets from his prayer, especially in the Fajr prayer, "May Allah accept it." He extends his hand, perhaps reaching the third person, and from here and from here. This is something for which Allah has not sent down authority. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed thousands of prayers, and the Companions were behind him, and not once did he say to any of them, "May Allah accept it." But on the contrary, instead of saying to his companion whom he meets for the first time, "As-salamu alaykum," in implementation of a Shari'ah rule, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) and in a narration This greeting was killed in this place and it was decreed upon it. What decreed it? The religious innovation that they introduced and they thought good with their minds. Now we return to what we were in, from the forgetting.

The questioner : So when a Muslim meets a Muslim, he must greet him. What did people replace this Sunnah with?

The Shaykh : Their habit of religious innovation killed the Sunnah. And we are giving you the example. This is you: you stand up from the prayer, you walk in the large mosque, you see your companion. What is his obligation? He says to you, "As-salamu alaykum." He does not say to you, "As-salamu alaykum," he says to you, "May Allah accept it." Why? Because this took the place of that. And it is true that one of the Salaf said, "No religious innovation is introduced except that a Sunnah is killed." And I feel this issue with the touch of the hand. Take the example: one of them enters upon his companion and he is performing ablution. What does he say to him? "Mazmum." You met him, and your Prophet is saying to you This Sunnah fell. Why? Because the religious innovations took its place. As the Lord of the worlds said. It is not possible to make every person understand this truth that that Salafi alerted to when he said, "No religious innovation is introduced except that a Sunnah is killed." It is not possible to put it in the minds of these people, like this example: he met his companion in the mosque after the prayer and says to him, "May Allah accept it," he does not say to him, "As-salamu alaykum." Why, my brother? He sees him in the bathroom performing ablution and says to him, "Mazmum," or what do they say in Egypt? "Harim Egyptian," it seems our companion. The point, my brother, is to say "As-salamu alaykum" first. Then, after that, if conversation takes place between you and him and you also say "May Allah accept it" sometimes, and you did not make it a Sunnah that kills the correct Sunnah, there is no harm in that.