And his statement—“…for the hadith of ʿAʾishah, who said: ‘The Prophet ﷺ would use the siwak, then hand it to me so that I could wash it; I would use it first, wash it, and pass it back to him,’” related by Abu Dawud and al-Bayhaqi—

I say: The author keeps silent about this report, following Abu Dawud and then al-Mundhiri in his Mukhtasar. In its chain stands Kathir ibn ʿUbayd, the foster-brother of ʿAʾishah; no one declared him reliable except Ibn Hibban, though a number of narrators transmitted from him. In al-Taqrib he is described as “acceptable (maqbul).” The hadith, then, is capable of being graded fair: al-Nawawi deemed it sound-enough, al-Hafiz reinforced it and cited it as evidence, as I explained in Sahih Abi Dawud, no. 41. Allah knows best.

And his statement—“…for the hadith of ʿAʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her: ‘I said, Messenger of Allah, if a man’s mouth becomes foul, should he use the siwak?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ I asked, ‘How should he do so?’ He said, ‘He should insert his finger into his mouth,’” narrated by al-Tabarani—

I say: He leaves this report without comment, suggesting that it is established, while in fact it is not. Al-Haythami states in Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid 2/100: “Al-Tabarani transmitted it in al-Awsat, and in its chain is ʿIsa ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Ansari; he is weak.” Al-Dhahabi, in the biographical entry on him in al-Mizan, lists a number of reports scholars have rejected, and this is one of them. Al-Hafiz says in al-Talkhis 1/383: “I say: ʿIsa was declared weak by Ibn Hibban, and Ibn ʿAdi counted this hadith among his rejected narrations.”

I say: Once this is clear to you, it follows that the author’s assertion—“and it is recommended …”—is likewise unsound.