Ruling on drinking whilst standing

Question

Praise be to Allah.

There are ahaadeeth which say that the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade drinking whilst standing. For
example, Muslim (2024, 2025) narrated from Anas and Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri
(may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) forbade drinking whilst standing.

But there are other ahaadeeth which say that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) drank whilst standing, such as
the following:

Al-Bukhaari (1637) and Muslim (2027) narrated that Ibn
Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I brought water to the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) from
Zamzam and he drank whilst standing.

Al-Bukhaari (5615) narrated from ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased
with him) that he drank whilst standing then he said: Some people say it is
makrooh for one of you to drink whilst standing, but I saw the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) doing what you have seen me do.

Ahmad (797) narrated that ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be
pleased with him) drank whilst standing, and the people looked at him as if
they objected to that. He said: “What are you looking at? If I drink whilst
standing, I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
drink whilst standing, and if I drink sitting, I saw the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) drink whilst sitting.” Ahmad Shaakir
said in Tahqeeq al-Musnad: its isnaad is saheeh.

Al-Tirmidhi (1881) narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be
pleased with him) said: “We used to eat at the time of the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) whilst walking, and
we used to drink whilst standing.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.

The scholars reconciled these hadeeth by stating that the
forbidding mentioned here does not mean that it is haraam, rather it is to
be understood as advice, and that it is better to drink whilst sitting. The
ahaadeeth which describe the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) drinking whilst standing indicate that it is permissible to do
that.

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

There is no contradiction in these ahaadeeth, praise be to
Allaah, and none of them are da’eef (weak). Rather they are all saheeh. The
correct view is that the forbidding mentioned in them is to be understood as
meaning that it is disliked. The fact that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) drank whilst standing indicates that it is
permissible to do so. This is all that needs to be said on the matter.

If it is asked: How come it is makrooh to drink whilst
standing when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
did that?

The answer is that if what he (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) did was to show that it is permissible, then it is not
makrooh, rather he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was
obliged to show and explain that, so how can it be makrooh? It is proven
that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did wudoo’
washing each part only once, and that he circumambulated the Ka’bah (i.e.,
did tawaaf) riding a camel – even though there is scholarly consensus that
it is better to do wudoo’ washing each part three times and that it is
better to do tawaaf walking. There are many similar examples. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was demonstrating that
something is permissible one time or many times, but he persisted in
following the better option. So usually when he did wudoo’ he washed each
part three times, and he usually did tawaaf walking, and he usually drank
whilst sitting. This is clear and is not confusing to anyone who has the
slightest claim to knowledge. And Allaah knows best.

This reconciliation between the ahaadeeth was suggested by
al-Khattaabi, Ibn Battaal, al-Tabari and others.

Al-Haafiz said in Fath al-Baari:

This is the best and
soundest explanation, and the farthest removed from contradiction.

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (22/133):

The basic ruling is that one should drink whilst sitting,
which is better, but one may drink whilst standing. The Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did both to demonstrate that there is a
lot of room for manoeuvre in this matter.