It is customary to begin with the eldest in drinking and the like, and al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar mentioned a hadith regarding this whose chain he strengthened; is it authentic?

The questioner : It is customary to begin by giving precedence to the eldest in gatherings, whether in drinking or otherwise. Ibn Hajar mentioned in *al-Fath* that there is a chain from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) which he strengthened, stating that when he asked for a drink, he would say: ; is this report authentic, or does one start with the right hand?

The Shaykh : Regarding the chain of this report, we do not agree with al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar in strengthening it; because it contains a man named "Mujallad ibn Sa'id," and Ibn Hajar himself weakened him in his book *al-Taqrib* by saying: "He is not strong." So his strengthening of the chain of this hadith contradicts his statement about one of its narrators: "He is not strong." This is the first point. Second: this hadith, despite the weakness of its chain as we have explained, contradicts a hadith in *al-Sahihayn* (the two authentic collections) narrated through two routes; one is from the narration of Anas ibn Malik, and the other is through the route of "Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Sa'idi." Each of them narrated the following story: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked for a drink, and a large cup containing milk mixed with water was brought to him. He drank, and on his right was Ibn Abbas, or in one of the two narrations: a Bedouin, and on his left was Abu Bakr, and in another narration: the elders of Quraysh. When he had drunk and some remained in the cup, he turned to the person on his right, Ibn Abbas or that Bedouin, and said: . He said: By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I would not prefer anyone over the leftover of your drink. So he gave it to him, and said: . In another narration: . The hadith ends here.
The jurisprudence of the hadith: Many people assume that the server starting with the Messenger is a confirmation of that hadith whose weak chain we explained, in which he (peace be upon him) ordered starting the distribution of drinks with the eldest of the people. This is not the case. The reason is that in this authentic hadith from the narration of the two Companions mentioned earlier, "Sahl ibn Sa'd" and "Anas," it is explicitly stated that the Messenger (peace be upon him) asked for a drink; meaning: he requested a drink. So the server started with him because he was the one requesting. If a small child here requested a drink of water and was given it first, no one would say that the Sunnah is to start with the small child. But the Sunnah is to start with the server, so the server starts with the one requesting a drink; so this requester...