Completion of the previous question: the recommended practice of starting with the right side in giving water, along with a discussion of the issue of preferring others and its guidelines.

The questioner : Shaykh, well, there is an argument that can be made using this very hadith; and that is that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked the boy for permission. I mean, the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) asking the boy for permission is also an indication that is fine, and it has its weight. Otherwise, if this principle were consistent in all cases, he would not have asked for permission, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have needed to ask this boy for permission. He only started with the boy... up to Abu Bakr. I mean, the fact that he started, and in the narration Abu Bakr did not ask for any of this honor, I mean, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is the one who started. The other issue is...

The Shaykh : One, one.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : One thing, stick to the first point. And what is the result of what you said, which has merit? What is the result? Does one start with the eldest of the group, or with the person on the right?

The questioner : No, because I am not saying that there is a difference.

The Shaykh : I hope you will answer briefly. When does the result of the observation you made—which is an observation of value—apply? Does its implication mean starting with the eldest of the group, or with the person on the right of the one giving water? I hope you will say one of these two.

The questioner : The right side, without a doubt, the right side.

The Shaykh : So this is the issue, and what I mentioned earlier does not refute the issue. All that is the case is that, by Allah, this is a boy and this is an old Shaykh, yes, he asked for permission, there is no objection, but I have to start with whom? With the person on the right. So this does not negate that. I mean, a person preferring his Muslim brother with something is another matter, and this is something that should be noted. And I say here, on this occasion, preferring others this is without a doubt a known Shari'ah, but it is not absolute. This is an interjected statement. So you have perfectly noted that we say this preferring others that you have been talking about, but I feared you would understand from preferring others the negation of the rule: , and the matter is not so. So "the shoe fit the foot, it fit it and embraced it."
But allow me, I want to draw your attention to the fact that preferring others is not absolute. Preferring others is in material matters, not in acts of worship. We observe in many mosques—for example—I attend and stand in the second row, and there is a young man in front of me who lags behind the first row and offers me his place. This is not the prescribed preferring others, unless he is behind the imam. Unless he is behind the imam, in which case, by lagging behind and offering his place to someone else in whom he suspects knowledge, jurisprudence, and recitation, and the like, he has applied his saying (peace be upon him): . But as for me, for example, being at the end of the row and he is at the end of the first row, and he offers me the first row; this is not the prescribed preferring others.
This is what I wanted to point out. So—praise be to Allah—there is no contradiction between the Messenger offering Ibn Abbas to prefer Abu Bakr and the rule to which we drew attention, which is in its generality and comprehensiveness.
But it is also necessary to add something else. This person preferred this one. Does the one giving water start with this one or that one? The turn must proceed; ; is that right? May Allah reward you with good.

Another questioner : Preferring others will not... the turn.

The questioner : If he had asked our permission and started with him, that would also have applied the Sunnah; I mean, this is also an observation...

The Shaykh : This is called, in the language of the country: "doubling."

Those present : [Everyone laughs!]

The Shaykh : This will invalidate the Sunnah. First of all, we want to revive the Sunnah. Do you think—may Allah bless you—that we revive the Sunnah with this suggestion, or do we kill it as it is dead? It is necessary to revive the Sunnah and make people respond to it and tolerate these customs and traditions that have dominated them. This is from one aspect. From another aspect, you may prefer the Shaykh whom you are afflicted with leading the gathering, and Zayd, Bakr, and 'Umar, but you do not break people's hearts. There may be, as they say, "secrets in the corners." He says: What is this preferring? Why? So he is not pleased to prefer the Shaykh. So you do what is in your heart, and do not make it a general rule that you impose on all the attendees.
Fine.
Please proceed.