The Miswaak - the real ignorance
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The Miswaak is my choice for most misguided single item of sectarian / hadithist muslim ignorance. That people still use this item not out of choice but by imputed benefits is staggering.
Here is the item in question. If I had seen it casually and without the benefit of scale I might have thought it to be a stick a dog had chewed; but enough of my light hearted comments. Let's see this implement and the benefits attributed to it.
http//www.islam.tc/Miswaak/miswak.jpg
Advantages of the Miswaak
- Miswaak strengthens the gums and prevents tooth decay.
- Miswaak assists in eliminating toothaches and prevents further increase of decay which has already set in.
- Miswaak creates a fragrance in the mouth.
- Miswaak is a cure for illness.
- Miswaak eliminates bad odors and improves the sense of taste.
- Miswaak sharpens the memory.
- Miswaak is a cure for headaches.
- Miswaak creates lustre (noor) on the face of the one who continually uses it.
- Miswaak causes the teeth to glow.
- Miswaak strengthens the eyesight.
- Miswaak assists in digestion.
- Miswaak clears the voice.
- The greatest benefit of using miswaak is gaining the pleasure of Allah.
- The reward of Salaah (Prayers) is multiplied 70 times if Miswaak was used before it.
Claim number 1 is true to an extent however damaging the gums and making them bleed is a leading cause of gum disease and gingivitis. I would take that with a grain of salt.
Claim number 2, if you had a toothache I think going to a dentist for treatment would be the more sensible option.
Claim 3 - it is all relative I guess on how long one kept this item; keep it in your pocket too long and the type of fragrance you might get might not be the one you desire.
Claim 4 takes the cake for being general. Which illness?
Claim 5 obviously real reasons are exhausted long ago. They get more ridiculous as it goes.
Claim 6 , 7, and 8 has one rolling in laughter.
Claim 9 - I wonder if a toothbrush + paste might be better for this.
Claim 10 - this thing is more like a magic wand than an ancient tooth cleaner.
I'm going to stop there because I think everyone gets the point. As long as there are people believing in this stuff then its an uphill battle.
The real problem is that this individual believes that if they could list 99 reasons that a miswaak is beneficial that it is going to make it easier to sell its benefits to the gullible. The truth is that a miswaak is an ancient toothbrush. The people who recommended it, did so for a good reason; dental hygiene is an important issue. I can only imagine that the breath of the hadithists was terrible due to their drinking of camel urine (for health benefits - don't ask me - go and consult the hadith books) !!
In all seriousness though, dental hygiene counts. It counts for the individual's life expectancy as a common source of premature death in times gone by was the loss of one's teeth.
If the hadithists had seen a modern toothbrush and paste I'm sure they would have used those in preference. The adherence to a piece of wood and trying to show that it gains one favour with God is simply ludicrous!
Let me make my view on this wooden toothbrush issue clear. It's an ancient form of toothbrush.
The ONLY BENEFIT in a miswaak in modern days is for the PERSON SELLING THEM to the gullible.
But there's more. Here it comes; in case anyone is using a modern toothbrush then there is bad news according to this source
Toothbrush
If the toothbrush is made of bristles (pig's hair) then its use is not permissible. If bristles are not used, the use of the toothbrush is permissible. However, the toothbrush will not serve as a substitute in the case of the Miswaak being available. If a Miswaak is available Reward will not be realised by using the toothbrush. The same applies to toothpowder or any other means of cleansing the teeth. It should be remembered here that during the time of our Nabi (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) substitutes, e.g. toothpowder, etc., existed, but our Nabi (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) never equated these with the Miswaak. Therefore, the argument of the modernist that the toothbrush today takes the place of the Miswaak is fallacious and a good example of the apologetic attitude adopted by modern Muslims of today.
The ignorance knows no end.
God has created the wood as well as the plastic monofilament used for the bristles of modern brushes.
All is created by God, so where is the sanction that a misvaak is the tootbrush for humans for all time????
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Hi Guys,
This goes off the subject of miswaak a little, however still in the same vein w/ the mentality of a sure cure because, well, hey Muhammed must have done it so if we do it we too get rewards from Allah.
A while back I knew a strict sunni -- this guy believed all the hadith and was thoughtful enough to send me black seed oil which was a cure all for everything, he claimed, even cancer. Yeh right.Yeah, Thats why its considered holy. People are so dumb sometimes.
Now, concerning the original miswaak, they do this thing where they always use it when they make their wudu for their ritual salaat, and they generally carry it with them everywhere they go because they are constantly using it thinking it brings Baraka from GOD. They all where Pakistani or Saudi style robes with the one pocket on the left side of the chest and that's where they keep their miswaak sticks. They not only use it for their wudu, but they use it in the Mosque while sitting in Ikhtikaf listening to "hadith" and a bunch of other nonsense.
Its riduculous how people believe stupid stuff as holy! The next thing u know, driving a car would be labelled sinful and propably camels brought in the picture.wink
Well, I was kind of surprised when I spotted 'Miswak' with a traditional sunni muslim, this ramadan.
On that thought, Is brushing with a tooth paste not allowed during fasting? One doesnt swallow but does taste. Does that matter? -
The Miswaak is my choice for most misguided single item of sectarian / hadithist muslim ignorance. That people still use this item not out of choice but by imputed benefits is staggering.
But I bet Truth, one time you yourself perhaps defended its virtue! wink
Its strange is it not that once you outgrow something - how funny they can appear to you...
Regards,
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The Miswaak is my choice for most misguided single item of sectarian / hadithist muslim ignorance. That people still use this item not out of choice but by imputed benefits is staggering.
But I bet Truth, one time you yourself perhaps defended its virtue! wink
Its strange is it not that once you outgrow something - how funny they can appear to you...
Regards,
LoteTree,
The ignorance of the sunnis is seldom matched by more enlightened people; but you are close - but then again that is making the assumption of enlightenment.
For your information I am not from an Arab background, and my family was and is 'secular' though they are nominally sunni.
I've never owned a miswaak nor used one.
I prayed when I was an adolescent for the God to allow me to follow the path of Abraham after reading about him from the early chapters of the reading.
I am confident that the God answered my prayers and kept me far from practising the hadith and sunni practices though I was always near to people who did and who tried to push these ideas.
It was when I read some texts from Yasar Nuri Ozturk that the message of devaluing hadith was brought to me about 6 or 7 years ago. In fact when I read those ideas, I was even more bold than that - I didn't even have to devalue them - I'd never accepted them in the first place and so I could outright reject them.
That was the beginning of the end of my nominal sunnism - some friends who I spoke to about this rejection of the hadith told me the dangerous things I was thinking/stating essentially showing me that I was on a path separate to their Mohammedanism.
I kept my faith in the God alone, they kept their miswaaks.
Regards.
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The Miswaak is my choice for most misguided single item of sectarian / hadithist muslim ignorance. That people still use this item not out of choice but by imputed benefits is staggering.
But I bet Truth, one time you yourself perhaps defended its virtue! wink
Its strange is it not that once you outgrow something - how funny they can appear to you...
Regards,
LoteTree,
The ignorance of the sunnis is seldom matched by more enlightened people; but you are close - but then again that is making the assumption of enlightenment.
The operative word was PERHAPS wink
Regards,