Chapter on the Tooth-Stick and the Sunnah Acts of Ablution

Using the tooth-stick with a twig …

The term siwāk is a verbal noun derived either from sāka yasūku or from tasawwaka yatasawwaku. According to the latter derivation, it is a noun of action that may refer to the instrument—the twig itself. Thus, one may say, “This is a siwāk made from arāk,” just as one may say miswāk. It may also refer to the act itself, as when one says, “The siwāk is a sunnah,” meaning the act of using the tooth-stick.

Regarding the phrase, “Chapter on the Tooth-Stick and the Sunnah Acts of Ablution”: some scholars entitled it, “Chapter on the Tooth-Stick and the Sunnah Practices of the Natural Disposition,” since the siwāk is among the practices of the natural disposition.

Others entitled it, “Chapter on the Tooth-Stick and the Sunnah Acts of Ablution,” because, since the siwāk is among the sunnah acts of ablution, they coupled the remaining sunnah acts with it. Otherwise, the normal order is for the sunnah acts to be mentioned after the obligatory acts and pillars, as they did in the Book of Prayer. The siwāk, although one of the sunnah acts of ablution, was mentioned before ablution for two reasons:

First: using the siwāk is recommended at all times, and is especially emphasized on occasions other than ablution.

Second: the siwāk falls under purification and is therefore connected to the chapter on cleansing oneself after relieving oneself.

His statement, “Using the tooth-stick with a twig”: “using the tooth-stick” is the grammatical subject, and its predicate is “recommended.” The prepositional phrase “with a twig” modifies “using the tooth-stick.”

His statement, “with a twig,” includes every type of wooden stick, whether from palm fronds, their stalks, grapevine branches, or from