What is the ruling on the custom of starting with the eldest rather than the right-hand person? And the explanation of the Sunnah in this matter and the Shaykh’s detailing of the issue.

The Shaykh : The Sunnah is to start with the eldest of the group.
The student : May Allah give you life, welcome.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.
The student : Inform them, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : No, I do not think so.
The student : My Shaykh, I read a hadith that says - (peace and blessings be upon him) -

The Shaykh : Men, what is the excuse for men being thirsty?
The student : ... .

The Shaykh : Customs in many countries are what control things, and these customs override acts of worship. The hadith they rely on and depend upon, when studied with precise fiqh analysis and free from emotions and customs, turns their arguments against them, and they have no case. But I testify that changing customs is difficult. However, this does not justify a scholar interpreting the texts until they align with customs and traditions. It is enough for a person to say, "By Allah, this is contrary to the Sunnah," and we ask Allah to turn us in repentance and not hold us accountable. And to the extent we can, we try to spread the Sunnah. For example, standing up for a virtuous scholar: there is no Islamic country today where, if a virtuous scholar enters, they do not stand up for him. No doubt, abolishing this custom is very difficult. But it is not difficult between two brothers who love each other for the sake of Allah, one of whom is older than the other, and one is more knowledgeable than the other. If the one who is less knowledgeable is told, "Who is more knowledgeable, or who is older?" he would say, "My brother, let us not do this pretense; this is contrary to the Sunnah." Then they proceed together, and a second, third, and fourth person will follow, and the Sunnah will spread this way. As for confronting society, that is difficult.

The questioner : Okay, what do we do, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : So now, if the Shaykhs with their students do not spread this Sunnah, how can they expect to implement it with others?

The questioner : It is not possible.

The Shaykh : Therefore, it was among the principles that He - the Exalted - said: . So I can, for example, follow this Sunnah with this brother, but with this one I cannot; that is, this should not overpower me, and I should not force my compliance with him. And this one walks with me; this is an example, of course. May Allah give drink to those who gave us drink. And so is the issue of starting with the eldest of the group, or the most knowledgeable, or the best, and so on. These are matters in which they contradict the Sunnah on the grounds that, to a large extent, it is reasonable to say, "By Allah, this is our most knowledgeable, this is our best; we must stand up for him out of respect, not for his person, but for his knowledge. Likewise, we start with him for his knowledge," and so on. But if you see the traditions and customs, that is nonsense, because you will see that, as the Syrians say, "Alawite, the king has arrived..." and the virtuous scholar is present in the gathering; who do they start with?
The student : The king.

The Shaykh : So it is not a matter of the best and the most knowledgeable. They say in Sham, "Put out your hand and walk here; we will find an explanation for the most knowledgeable, best Shaykh there, but we will not find an explanation for the king. No, the king also deserves respect," and so on. Even though those who said that one stands up for a virtuous scholar specified that one does not stand up for an open sinner, a tyrant, or an oppressor.
The student : This is even more so.

The Shaykh : Likewise, starting with the eldest of the group: the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: and in a narration: . I see the calamity of the people of hadith, especially those who claim affiliation with the Salaf. They were saved from the calamity of figurative interpretation to some extent, which is in the attributes, but they were not saved from figurative interpretation in the legal rulings. We are now facing a practical example: the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Ah, this is restricted to the right-hand person. So the right-hand person, if they are equal. But if there is someone better, start with him, then with the person to his right. Of course, the affair of every person, especially if he is sincere, is that he does not intentionally contradict the text without finding a pretext. So they looked to find a justification for such an interpretation. They looked at the cause of the hadith, which is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was brought milk that had been mixed with water, so he drank, and there was a remainder. And to his right were the Bedouins, and in a narration of Abdullah ibn Abbas, he had not yet reached the age of accountability, and to his left were the elders of Quraysh, the Shaykhs of Quraysh. So he asked permission from the one to his right: He said, "By Allah - O Messenger of Allah - I would not prefer anyone over the remainder of your drink." So he gave it to the young one and said: They now do not look at the application of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of this hadith in its detail and text; rather, they look at the occasion. What is the occasion? Milk was brought in a cup that had been mixed with water, and it was brought to him, so they started with him. Okay, and when the cup was in the hand of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and he wanted to give drink to the rest, he did not give it to Abu Bakr based on their rule; rather, he asked permission from the young one, who said, "I do not give permission," so he gave it to him and made it a continuous rule until the Day of Resurrection: Why did they leave the application of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of the general text in this same incident and take only the incident in which, at the very least, we do not know why the server started with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? Although I know, but let us assume they did not know. Why did they take the unknown and leave the known? I know, and the favor is from Allah alone, that there are two narrations in Sahih al-Bukhari in this story, one from Anas ibn Malik and the other from Sahl ibn Sahm. Both narrations say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked for water, so it was brought to him.
The student : Please, please, our Shaykh, may Allah give you life.

The Shaykh : Welcome, Aziz, without standing up. We were discussing this topic.
The student : Standing up...

The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The student : How are you, our Shaykh?
Another student: May Allah give you life, our Shaykh... It is four o'clock. If Farah is invited, let us bring our dinner at four o'clock. If he is on an errand, he might be invited.
The student : Four o'clock, what, in the morning?
Another student: No, no, now, before the afternoon prayer.
The student : He is sleeping.
Another student: No, I do not know about him.
The student : I did not wake up until the call to prayer.
Another student: May Allah give you strength.