What is the ruling on eating and drinking while standing, and is the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "Whoever drinks while standing, let him vomit," an authentic hadith?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you. He asks: What is the ruling on eating and drinking while standing, and is the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) an authentic hadith?
The Shaykh : Yes, the correct view is that drinking while standing is disliked except out of necessity. One such necessity is when the vessel is high, as found in some refrigerators where a vessel is attached to a chain and the chain is short; if a person were to sit to drink from it, he would not be able to. We would say here: drink while standing, and there is no harm. A similar case is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drank from a hanging water skin while standing, because the hanging water skin is high and a person cannot drink from it while sitting. Likewise, he (peace and blessings be upon him) drank from Zamzam while standing. The scholars said that he drank while standing because the place was narrow, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted not to make things difficult for the people. This is one aspect. From another aspect, it is clear that the prohibition of drinking while standing is only in the category of dislike, not prohibition. As for the statement that if one of them drinks while standing, let him vomit, that is an authentic hadith, but this is on the basis of recommendation, not obligation. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Yes, as for eating, nothing has been reported regarding it; no prohibition has been reported. And if no prohibition is reported, the original ruling is that what was is remains as it was, and it is permissible. If a prohibition were reported, or as mentioned regarding some of the Salaf that it is more severe than drinking, then if that statement is a proof, we would say it is disliked, just as drinking is disliked; otherwise, it is not. Yes.
Whoever drinks while standing, let him vomit
من شرب واقفا فليتقيأThe Shaykh : Yes, the correct view is that drinking while standing is disliked except out of necessity. One such necessity is when the vessel is high, as found in some refrigerators where a vessel is attached to a chain and the chain is short; if a person were to sit to drink from it, he would not be able to. We would say here: drink while standing, and there is no harm. A similar case is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drank from a hanging water skin while standing, because the hanging water skin is high and a person cannot drink from it while sitting. Likewise, he (peace and blessings be upon him) drank from Zamzam while standing. The scholars said that he drank while standing because the place was narrow, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted not to make things difficult for the people. This is one aspect. From another aspect, it is clear that the prohibition of drinking while standing is only in the category of dislike, not prohibition. As for the statement that if one of them drinks while standing, let him vomit, that is an authentic hadith, but this is on the basis of recommendation, not obligation. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Yes, as for eating, nothing has been reported regarding it; no prohibition has been reported. And if no prohibition is reported, the original ruling is that what was is remains as it was, and it is permissible. If a prohibition were reported, or as mentioned regarding some of the Salaf that it is more severe than drinking, then if that statement is a proof, we would say it is disliked, just as drinking is disliked; otherwise, it is not. Yes.