[phsyalcvqh]

Brothers and sisters, I have some questions about the miswaak if those who know could kindly help.

1. I have read at several places that your miswaak stick must always be kept (stored) in an upright position when it is not being used, and that not storing it upright and storing it laying flat can cause the person to go 'insane'. If you Google "the benefits of miswaak" or any other information related search on Google and read few of the top pages, you will see this information is pertinent more or less on most of the detailed pages about miswaak. However, I have not seen any of them cite any hadith or anything for this statement. So, is it true or myth?

2. Is it OK to store your miswaak stick in the bathroom (next to your toothbrush, for example), or is it considered disrespectful (or even impermissible) to do so?

3. A miswaak stick should not be longer than a hand span (distance between tip of your thumb to tip of little finger), otherwise the shaytaan can sit on it. Is there any basis found in Hadith for this statement? Also, many miswaak sticks are sold as longer than that length, so then what is one to do? Do we cut it to length and throw the rest away? That would be unnecessarily wasting it in my opinion. If this statement is true, why do they even sell miswaak sticks so much longer than a hand-span?

4. What is the best way to dispose of a miswaak which you are done using? Is it OK to throw it in the 'regular' garbage or should one take special precautions while disposing of miswaak? What about the shavings of the bark when preparing the miswaak, is it OK to throw them in regular garbage?

5. How short should you go with a miswaak before you dispose of it? After it gets to a certain length, it is tough to hold it the Sunnah way (index, middle, & ring finger on top, thumb and pinky finger on bottom), however there is still plenty of miswaak left to hold it in a different manner & use it (such as moving your ring finger to the bottom also and keeping only index and middle finger on top, etc). In this case, is it OK to hold it differently than the Sunnah way so as not to 'waste' the remaining miswaak. If so, how short should you go before disposing of a miswaak stick? Is there any evidence in Hadith as far as what our beloved RasulAllah did in regards to this?

I had some other questions which escape my head right now...lol.

for your help!



EDIT: Similarly, there are many benefits of the miswaak which are always listed, aside from the 'obvious' medical benefits. These benefits include the fact that it sharpens the memory, increases intelligence, etc. , I don't doubt any of these benefits, but I would just like to know, are these cited in Hadith somewhere as well?