The hadiths that are used to show this apparent contradiction are:
Anas reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) disapproved the drinking of water while standing. (Sahih Muslim 2024a)
‘Asim narrated from Sha’bi, from Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “I drew water from Zamzam for the Prophet (ﷺ) and he drank standing up.” (Sunan Ibn Majah 3422)
An Nawawi says all the hadiths about drinking while standing or sitting are authentic and not contradictory. The Prophet ﷺ usually drank sitting, and that is better, but he drank standing sometimes to show it is allowed. So drinking while standing is disliked but not forbidden. The hadith commanding to vomit if one forgets is not a strict rule—it is just recommended. There’s no need to claim abrogation or weakness; the correct view is that both are allowed, but sitting is better.
Translation: The narration “He forbade drinking while standing”—Qatadah said: We asked, “And eating?” He replied, “That is even worse, or more vile.” In another narration from Qatadah from Abu ʿAli al-Aswari from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri, it says: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ reprimanded drinking while standing.” And in another narration from them: “He forbade drinking while standing.” In another report from ʿUmar ibn Hamzah, Abu Ghaṭafān al-Murri said that he heard Abu Hurayrah say: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Let none of you drink while standing, and whoever forgets, let him vomit it up.”
From Ibn ʿAbbas: “I gave the Messenger of Allah ﷺ Zamzam to drink, and he drank it while standing.” In another narration: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ drank from Zamzam while standing.” And in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhari, it is reported that ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, drank while standing and said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do as you have seen me do.”
Know that these hadiths confused some scholars, to the point that some of them made false claims about them, even saying: “They must be dismissed,” and went further until they dared to claim that some of them were weak and made invalid arguments about them. We have no interest in repeating such falsehoods or spreading misinterpretations of the Sunnah. Rather, we mention what is correct and point to the need to be cautious about being misled by views that go against it.
By Allah’s praise, there is no real confusion in these hadiths, nor is there any weakness in them. All of them are authentic. The correct view is that the prohibition is to be understood as disliked but not forbidden (karāhat tanzīh). As for the Prophet ﷺ drinking while standing, that was to show its permissibility. So there is no confusion or contradiction at all. This is the view that must be followed.
As for those who claimed abrogation or other such things—they have made a serious mistake. How could abrogation be claimed when it is possible to reconcile the hadiths—even if the chronological order were established? And where is that chronology anyway? And Allah knows best.
If it is said: How can drinking while standing be disliked when the Prophet ﷺ did it? The answer is: When the Prophet ﷺ performs an action to show it is permitted, then it is not disliked. In fact, clarification is part of his obligation, so how could it be disliked? It is confirmed that he once performed wudu’ washing each limb once, and once did tawaf on a camel—yet it is agreed that the most complete way is wudu’ three times and walking for tawaf. There are many similar examples.
So the Prophet ﷺ would sometimes point out that something was allowed by doing it once or a few times, while his regular habit would be the better and more virtuous way. Most of his wudu’ was three times. Most of his tawaf was on foot. Most of his drinking was while sitting. This is clear, and no one with even the slightest understanding of knowledge would doubt it. And Allah knows best.
As for his statement ﷺ: “Whoever forgets, let him vomit it,” this is understood to mean recommendation and encouragement (mustahabb), not obligation. So it is recommended for someone who drank standing to vomit it, based on this clear and sound hadith. For when a command cannot be understood as obligation, it is taken as recommendation.
As for the statement of Qadi ʿIyad: “There is no disagreement among the scholars that someone who drank while forgetting does not have to vomit it”—he intended by that to weaken the hadith. But his insinuation should not be given weight. The fact that the scholars did not make vomiting obligatory does not mean the hadith is weak.
Sharh Sahih Muslim By An Nawawi (13/195)
