The right side contains blessings

The right side contains blessings

The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم has taught us in this Hadith that at the time of distributing something, e.g., food, water, dates, etc., the distribution should be commenced from the right side. The Arabic word "یمین'' means the right side and this word also means "blessed." Beginning work from the right side brings blessings. That is why the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم has commanded that we should eat, drink, put on shoes with the right hand or from the right side. When  walking alongside a road, we should also take to the right side. Following this principle the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم combed his hair from the right side, then from the left. To begin, things from the right side is an act of Sunnah and a means of earning blessings.

Importance of the right side

There is another Hadith dealing with the same topic. Once some beverage was presented to the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم. He صلى الله عليه و سلم drank a portion of it, leaving the rest of it. At that time a young boy was sitting on the right side of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم. On the left were people grown up in age and senior in learning and experience. Feeling regard for the people sitting on the left on account of their age and accomplishments, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم  asked the young boy to forgo his right to take the drink first in favor of his seniors sitting on the left. The boy was intelligent. He replied, saying: 0 Prophet of Allah, if there had been something else, I would surely have preferred these respectable men to myself. Here the question is of sharing a drink which has remained after your drinking. So I request you to favor me with it, if it is my right. The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم, therefore, handed over the drink to the boy. This young boy was Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbas رضي الله عنه. (Muslim the Book of Drink, etc.)

Note the great importance the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم  attached to the right side by favoring a young boy with the drink, although many elders and seniors were sitting on the left side, and even the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم himself desired that the elder persons should be favored with the gift of the drink. He صلى الله عليه و سلم however, did not violate the principle of starting things from the right side. Everyday we find occasions on which we have to distribute things, gifts, e-g., food, sweets. On these occasions, if we follow the principle of commencing distribution from the right side with the intention of complying with the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم, we shall soon realize the blessings and lights emanating from this act of Sunnah.