QUESTION

We have been prohibited from drinking standing up. [1] We have also been prohibited from sitting in a masjid without having first prayed two rak'ahs. [2] So what do we do if we are very thirsty and we enter a masjid and need to drink from the water available there? If we sit down to drink the water, we have fallen into one prohibition. If we remain standing to drink, we have fallen into another!

ANSWER by Shaykh Muhammad 'Umar Baazmool, instructor at Umm Al-Quraa University in Makkah

The correct position regarding drinking standing up, according to the majority of the scholars, is that it is not haraam (prohibited), rather it is makrooh (disliked). Based on this, whoever sees it as being obligatory to pray two rak'ahs in a masjid before sitting down in it, and he wants to drink something, then he may drink standing up.

However, if we said that the two rak'ahs of tahiyyatul-masjid (prayer performed before sitting down in a masjid) is mustahabb (recommended), not waajib (obligatory), as the majority of the scholars say, then there is no problem at all in this issue. If a person wants to drink standing up, no problem; If a person wants to sit down to drink (before praying), no problem. This is so because tahiyyatul-masjid is not obligatory, according to the opinion of the majority of the scholars. However, if he holds that tahiyyatul-masjid is obligatory, then the solution is what I have mentioned (he may drink standing up).

The correct ruling on drinking standing up is that it is makrooh, not haraam, due to a number of authentic evidences. From them:

1) The Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) drank standing up. [3]

2) Imaam Al-Bukhaaree (may Allaah have Mercy on him) collected a hadeeth about 'Alee (may Allaah be pleased with him) in his Saheeh, that he was sitting in a gathering once when water was brought to him. He then stood up and drank it standing up. The people then questioned him about that. He said, "It has reached me that the people are prohibiting others from drinking standing up. But verily I saw the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) drinking standing up!" [4] Without a doubt, the narrator of an action is most knowledgeable about the action he describes, and 'Alee was from the fuqahaa' (fiqh scholars) of the Companions. So when he understood and practiced this, it shows that drinking standing up is not haraam, rather it is only makrooh.

So for the one who believes tahiyyatul-masjid to be obligatory, and he enters a masjid and wants to drink something inside the masjid, then he simply drinks standing up, and Allaah knows best.

[ ...The questioner then asks the shaykh to clarify the ruling on tahiyyatul-masjid based on the hadeeth: (( When one of you enters the masjid, then let him pray two rak'ahs before sitting down. ))... ]

The apparent understanding from the texts is that the two rak'ahs of tahiyyatul-masjid are waajib (obligatory). Since the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said:

(( When one of you enters the masjid, then let him not sit down until he has prayed two rak'ahs. )) [5]

And in another hadeeth:

(( When one of you enters the masjid, then let him pray two rak'ahs before sitting down. )) [6]

One hadeeth carries a prohibition and the other carries an order. Furthermore, once the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) saw one of the Companions enter the masjid and sit down without praying while he was giving the khutbah, so he said to him:

(( Stand up and pray two rak'ahs, and make them brief. )) [7]

And it is well-known that listening to the khutbah is waajib, so if these two rak'ahs were only mustahabb, then the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) would have confirmed the correctness of leaving something that is mustahabb in order to fulfill something that is waajib. So when he ordered him to stand up and pray, this proves the obligation of tahiyyatul-masjid.

The majority of the scholars, may Allaah have Mercy on them, ruled that tahiyyatul-masjid is mustahabb, not waajib. They used as a proof the hadeeth of the man from An-Najd with unkempt hair who came to the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam). He asked him about the obligations of Islaam. The Messenger mentioned to him that Allaah had made obligatory on him five prayers every day. The man asked, "Is there anything else that is upon me?" He (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) replied:

(( No, unless you want to increase upon that voluntarily. )) [8]

So the majority of the scholars used this as a proof, saying that any prayer other than the five daily prayers is mustahabb, not waajib. They then understood the other narrations (about tahiyyatul-masjid) to mean that it is a recommended and confirmed Sunnah.

The majority of the scholars also used a number of other narrations of the Companions, that they did not pray tahiyyatul-masjid. From them is what is reported about some of the Companions, that they used to sleep in the masjid. They would wake up, exit the masjid to take a bath, return, and sit down without praying tahiyyatul-masjid. So (they say) if tahiyyatul-masjid was waajib, then those Companions could not have left it off without someone objecting to it.

It seems that the best statement is the first one, that it is waajib, since it is what is apparent from the texts. Using the hadeeth of the bedouin is disputable, since the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) was only clarifying what was obligatory on him throughout the day and night due to his acceptance of Islaam. He did not discuss any other daily obligations that are waajib due to other reasons, like fulfilling an oath. If someone vows to perform some voluntary prayers, then it is obligatory to pray them in order to fulfill his oath. And this is something that is not connected to the five daily prayers.

So therefore this hadeeth is only dealing with the prayers that are obligatory on the Muslim due to his acceptance of Islaam, and it does not negate the obligation to perform other than these five daily prayers, prayers that become obligatory for certain specific reasons.

As for their use of the reports of some of the Companions, this is also disputable. Since if this is the only thing narrated, then I say that those Companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) who used to take a bath, it is not mentioned in those narrations that they exited the masjid. And if they did actually exit, then their intention may have been only to exit and take a bath and return, so they may have not considered themselves as having exited the masjid. This is not related to our topic. Our topic involves those who are outside the masjid and want to enter.

Therefore, remaining upon the first opinion, that tahiyyatul-masjid is waajib, is more appropriate and a clearer position in this case.

FOOTNOTES

[1] see Imaam Muslim's Chapter of Drinking Standing Up, hadeeths #5242-5247 (7/194-197 of Sharh An-Nawawee)

[2] The narrations about this are mentioned in the shaykh's answer.

[3] refer to Imaam Muslim's Chapter of Drinking Zam-Zam Standing Up, hadeeths #5248-5252 (7/197-198 of Sharh An-Nawawee)

[4] Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree #5615 (10/99 of Fat-hul-Baaree)

[5] Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree #1167 (3/60 of Fat-hul-Baaree) and Saheeh Muslim #1652 (3/232 of Sharh An-Nawawee)

[6] Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree #444 (1/670 of Fat-hul-Baaree) and Saheeh Muslim #1651 (3/232 of Sharh An-Nawawee)

[7] Saheeh Muslim #2021 (3/402 of Sharh An-Nawawee)

[8] Saheeh Muslim #100 (1/119-120 of Sharh An-Nawawee)

SOURCE

This was translated exclusively for www.bakkah.net from a cassette recording with the knowledge and permission of the shaykh, file no. AAMB006, dated 1423/6/25.

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