Hadith with regard to eating & drinking while standing
Question:
Respected Sheikh, what do you say regarding the Hadith of Ibn Umar that stated: “We used to used to eat in the time of the Prophet and we were walking, and drink while we were standing?”
Answer:
This hadith is defective.
It was narrated by Imam Ahmed, at-Tirmidi, Ibn Maajah, and Ibn Hibbaan in his ‘Sahih’, all of them on the authority of Hafs bin Ghiyaath on Ubaydallah bin Umar on Nafi’ on Ibn Umar.
What is apparent in the isnad [chain] is that it is authentic, and it was declared Sahih by Abu ‘Eesa at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Hibbaan, and others.
However, this is doubtful, it is not proper to rely on the apparent in the isnad, and at-Tirmidhi said in his book “al-’Ilal“:
سألت محمداً عن هذا فقال هذا حديث فيه نظر
“I asked Muhammed (al-Bukhari) about this, and he said about this hadith “It is
doubtful.”
Imam, Yahya bin Ma’een, said:
لم يحدث بهذا الحديث أحد إلا حفص وما أراه
إلا وهم فيه وأراه سمع حديث عمران بن حُدير فغلط بهذا
“No one narrated this Hadith except
Hafs, and I don’t see it except that he made a mistake in it, I see that he
heard the Hadith of ‘Imran bin Hadayr so he mistook it with this.”
The fuquhaa’ differed over the ruling on drinking while standing.
It was said that it is haram, and is allowed only if one has an excuse that prevents him from sitting, and this is the position of Ibn al-Qayyim because of the hadith of Anas in Sahih Muslim that the Prophet forbade [zajara] from drinking while standing.
In another narration,
نهى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يشرب الرجل
قائماً
“The Prophet forbade
[nahaa] for a man to drink while standing.”
He narrated it from the hadith of Abi Sa’id al-Khudry.
On the other hand, it was said that this prohibition is abrogated due to the hadith of Ibn Abbas, saying:
سقيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم من زمزم
فشرب وهو قائم
“I gave the Prophet water
from Zamzam, so he drank it while standing.”
Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Sahihs.
And in Sahih al-Bukhari, on the authority of ‘Abdul-Malik bin Maysara on al-Nizaal, it says “Ali bin Abi Talib came to Bab al-Ruhba, and he drank while standing, then said:
إن ناساً يكره أحدهم أن يشرب وهو قائم وإني
رأيت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فعل كما رأيتموني فعلت
“Some people hate for one
of you to drink while standing, and I saw the Prophet do as you saw me just do.”
And it was said that the Ahaadith of prohibition discourage from drinking and eating while standing, while the hadith of permissability imply that it is not a sin to do so, and this was said by at-Tabari, and al-Khattabi, and al-Haafith bin Hajar.
And it was said that both choices [to stand or sit] are allowed without a problem [bi-doon kiraaha], and that drinking while sitting is better because the Prophet did it more, and this is the correct opinion.
And Allah knows best.