Islam has accorded an elevated status to the Miswaak. Its importance has been stressed in many Ahadith of our Holy Nabi (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam). The statements and examples of the Sahaba and the Ulama of Islam regarding this practice bear testimony in abundance of the significance of the Miswaak.

Ibn Abidin says in his Radd al-Muhtar, also known as Hashiyat Ibn Abidin:

Virtue and time of Siwak:

Siwak (tooth stick) is a confirmed sunna (sunna mu’akkada) during the rinsing of the mouth, as in Jawhara, and some say before rinsing the mouth. It is [a confirmed sunna] is for the ritual ablutions (wudu) in the Hanafi school, as confirmed in the hadith reported by Ahmad [in his Musnad] that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Prayer with brushing (siwak) is seventy times more virtuous than prayer without.” However, if one forgets it (during ablutions) then it is mustahab to use it for salah, as it is mustahab to use it for removing yellow teeth and odour and reciting the Qur’an etc. [f: Ibn Abidin later confirmed that it is generally recommended before prayer, even though the confirmed sunna and promised reward is attained by all prayers performed with ritual ablutions in which one brushed one’s teeth. This is a point most Hanafis are negligent of.]