Prayer means standing before Allah (may He be glorified and exalted), so it is essential to be in a state of purity and look good, and for the mouth and teeth to be clean. In this hadith, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) states that were it not that it would be too difficult for the worshippers among his ummah, he would have instructed them and made it obligatory for them to use the siwak before offering any prayer, whether it was obligatory or supererogatory, and whether the mouth had an odour or was clean. This is by way of encouraging people to do this noble act, which is purifying the mouth and cleaning the teeth when meeting Allah in prayer. The siwak is the root of the arak tree; this hadith may also refer to using any other kind of stick or similar thing to clean the teeth and take away any odour and the like. The Sunnah is to use the siwak when doing wudu’ for prayer too, as it says in a report narrated by al-Bukhari from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). The time to do that when doing wudu’ is after washing the hands and before rinsing the mouth. This hadith indicates that worshippers are urged to use the siwak whenever possible. It also highlights the keenness of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to make things easy for people..