Alerting to the recommended practice of starting with the right side when serving drinks.

The Shaykh : It is necessary to remind people of this Sunnah, which is considered one of the authentic Sunnahs that people have let die. This is not a death resulting from laxity in application, but rather a death caused by a mistake in understanding this Sunnah. May Allah reward the brother who serves drinks. He responded to this Sunnah when it was mentioned, but he has in his mind that the server starts with the eldest of the group. This is a widespread misconception in many Islamic countries. It is very strange that the hadith is explicit, with an explicitness beyond which there is no other, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not start with the eldest of the group. After the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had drunk, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq was on his right, and the boy who had not yet reached the age of legal responsibility, Abdullah ibn Abbas, was on his left. Yet, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had drunk from what he drank and there remained a leftover in the cup, he asked permission from the boy on his right to give the leftover to the elder on his left. He did not start with the elder on his left. So I do not know where this misconception came from... The concise narration and the detailed narration. Whoever among us, my brothers, wants to hear it, let him sit with us, and may Allah reward you with good. Come forward, come forward, come forward. The more Muslims gather their bodies together, the closer they become in their hearts, because the inner is connected to the outer, and the outer is connected to the inner. There are many hadiths about this, but we are not currently discussing any of them. So the concise narration says: "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) was brought milk mixed with water in a cup, so he drank from it, and there remained in it a leftover..." to the end of the hadith. Perhaps we will mention it in its entirety.
The detailed narration says: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked for a drink, so he was brought..." to the end of the hadith. So the first narration appears to indicate that the server started with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) because he was the master of the group and their great one, and it is sufficient that he is their Messenger and Prophet. From here came the problem and the doubt for those who say that the Sunnah is for the server to start with the eldest of the group, because in fact the server started with the Messenger (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace). And why did he start with him? It is very clear: because he is the master of the group. But if we return to the detailed and completing narration, the answer is completely different, as this narration says: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked for a drink..." meaning he requested a drink. So here, based on the first narration and the other narration, a question and answer arise. Regarding the first narration, if a questioner asks why the server started with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace), the answer is because he is their master. But if the question comes regarding the other narration, why did the server start with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace), the answer is because he was the one who requested the drink. So if he was given the drink or started with him, it is because he (peace and blessings be upon him) requested the drink. So it is not permissible to use this hadith as evidence that the Sunnah is for the server to start with the eldest of the group. And this is sufficient to clarify the error in using this hadith as evidence for what is widespread, that the server starts with the eldest of the group. But the research has a continuation, and for the continuation of the hadiths there are other proofs confirming that the Sunnah is to start with the right side of the server. We said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drank from the cup of milk that was mixed with water, so there remained in the cup a leftover, which was the large cup. Abdullah ibn Abbas was on his right (peace be upon him), and Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and the elders of Quraysh were on his left. So he (peace be upon him) said to Ibn Abbas: He said: "No, by Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I would not prefer anyone over the leftover of your drink." In some narrations, it is mentioned that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab was attentive, interested in what the Messenger (peace be upon him) would do, so he presented the leftover to Ibn Abbas and was reassured by what he said afterwards, as were the minds of 'Umar and others who imagined that he would start with Abu Bakr, because he is the best of them after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So he gave it to Ibn Abbas and said: And in a narration: So here is another proof that the server starts with the one on his right. He does not look at age, nor knowledge, nor virtue, because all these qualities were present in Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, unlike Ibn Abbas. The Messenger (peace be upon him) did not look at all these qualities, but he preferred the rightmost over them. The rightmost, then the rightmost, then the rightmost.
So the first server started with the Messenger of Allah because he requested the drink. He did not start with him because he is the eldest of the group and their great one, though he is indeed so. This is first. Second, when the Messenger became the server, with the cup in his hand (peace be upon him), he is the one who wants to give a drink, either to the one on his right or the one on his left. So he gave a drink to the one on his right and explained this with a legal explanation by saying: Here ends the explanation that this hadith, which is narrated in the two Sahihs in the concise and complete narrations from two noble Companions, one of whom is Anas ibn Malik and the other is Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Sa'idi, both of whom narrated this hadith with the additional wording: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked for a drink, so he was brought..." to the end of the hadith.
Let us now look at the issue from the theoretical and practical application side. Is it possible, and does it make sense, in the view of the Shari'ah's leniency and ease, to burden the server of a large and very large gathering with knowing who is their eldest, who is the second among them? This, in my opinion and critique, falls into the category of burdening people with what they cannot bear. And this is what the people of the Sunnah agreed upon, as the Blessed and Exalted is He said: As for burdening... usually, it is strange for him to know the individuals. So if it is said to him, "Start with the eldest of the group, knowing their virtue and perhaps their age," I say that if this server were Ibn Khaldun in his time, with his knowledge of the history of men and their ages, he would not have been able to know in every gathering... that server, by his serving, would not be able to know this quality that some people think deserves to be started with its owner. This is burdening people with what they cannot bear. But start with the right. The boy is small; if he enters from the door, start from the right. Start from this boy standing now. This is Islam, and this is the ease of Islam. So I hope you will understand this issue. Not because Shaykh Al-Albani says this, but because you have first known the completing narration of the first narration: "The Messenger of Allah asked for a drink" So the argument that the starting was because he was the eldest of the group is dropped.

The questioner : Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace. Second, the Prophetic hadith: It is a general rule that must be established.
Third and finally, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) implemented this general rule himself when he started with the boy, Ibn Abbas, and preferred him over the elder... who is Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. So I hope you will grasp this. And I say finally, let the present convey to the absent. Please.