Sahih al-Bukhari, 246
sahihNarrated Ibn 'Umar:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I dreamt that I was cleaning my teeth with a Siwak and two persons came to me. One of them was older than the other and I gave the Siwak to the younger. I was told that I should give it to the older and so I did."
وَقَالَ عَفَّانُ حَدَّثَنَا صَخْرُ بْنُ جُوَيْرِيَةَ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ
أَرَانِي أَتَسَوَّكُ بِسِوَاكٍ، فَجَاءَنِي رَجُلاَنِ أَحَدُهُمَا أَكْبَرُ مِنَ الآخَرِ، فَنَاوَلْتُ السِّوَاكَ الأَصْغَرَ مِنْهُمَا، فَقِيلَ لِي كَبِّرْ. فَدَفَعْتُهُ إِلَى الأَكْبَرِ مِنْهُمَا
. قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ اخْتَصَرَهُ نُعَيْمٌ عَنِ ابْنِ الْمُبَارَكِ عَنْ أُسَامَةَ عَنْ نَافِعٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ.
Isnad
4 transmittersReferences2 variants
- In-Book Reference
- Book 4, Hadith 112
- USC-MSA web (English) reference
- Vol. 1, Book 4, Hadith 246 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The dreams of the Prophets are true. In this hadith, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) saw in a dream that he was cleaning his teeth with a siwak, which is a stick cut from the arak tree. It is used to clean the mouth and teeth, to perfume the mouth and to remove bad smells. Then two men came to him, one of whom was older than the other, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) gave the siwak to the younger of them. Then it was said to him: Give it to the older one, meaning: give precedence to the older one. The one who told the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to give it to the older one was Jibril (peace be upon him). So the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) gave it to the older one. This hadith indicates that proper etiquette is to give precedence in a gathering to one who is older over one who is younger. This is the Sunnah when saying salaam and greeting people, when offering drinks and perfume, and other matters. It highlights the virtue and importance of the siwak..