Is Using Miswak Obligatory for Prayer?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
Is using the miswak obligatory for prayer?
❖ Answer:
Using the miswak for prayer is not obligatory; rather, it is recommended (mustahabb).
Evidence from Hadith
❀ Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (RA) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لولا أن أشق على أمتي لا مرتهم بالسواك .
“If I had not considered it a hardship for my Ummah, I would have commanded them to use the miswak.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 7240)
❀ Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (RA) also narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لولا أن أشق على أمتي لأمرتهم بالسواك مع كل وضوء .
“If I had not considered it a hardship for my Ummah, I would have commanded them to use the miswak with every ablution.”
(Musnad Aḥmad: 2/460, 517; al-Sunan al-Kubrā al-Nasā’ī: 3031; Sharḥ Ma‘ānī al-Āthār al-Ṭaḥāwī: 1/43, Ṣaḥīḥ)
Imam Ibn Khuzaymah (رحمه الله, Hadith no. 140) and Imam Ibn al-Jarūd (رحمه الله, Hadith no. 63) declared this Hadith authentic.
Scholarly Explanation
❀ Ḥāfiẓ al-Khaṭṭābī (رحمه الله, d. 388H) said:
فيه من الفقه أن السواك غير واجب وذلك أن لولا كلمة تمنع الشيء لوقوع غيره فصار الوجوب بها ممنوعا ولو كان السواك واجبا لأمرهم به شق أو لم يشق .
“In this Hadith is the juristic ruling that miswak is not obligatory. This is because the word ‘lawlā’ (‘if not for’) prevents obligation due to the existence of hardship. Hence, obligation is negated. If miswak had been obligatory, then the Prophet ﷺ would have commanded the Ummah to use it, regardless of hardship or not.”
(Ma‘ālim al-Sunan: 1/28)
Conclusion:Using the miswak is a highly recommended Sunnah, but it is not obligatory for prayer or ablution.
