Dear brothers, As-salam Alykum. Q. Toothbrush in Islam is a Sunnah. Can we count on the modern Toothbrush with toothpaste too or not? Thank you and may Allah guide and protect us all.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Apparently, you wanted to say: "Siwaak in Islam is a Sunnah …" instead of the word toothbrush at the beginning of your question. In any case the use of the Siwaak is a Sunnah and the toothbrush is like the Siwaak; the Sunnah is achieved by using it. The jurists stated that cleaning one's teeth is achieved with anything that removes the odor but using the Araak stick is given precedence.

An-Nawawi said in Rawdhat At-Taalibeen: "Cleaning one's teeth is achieved with a piece of cloth, and with every rough material that removes the dirt, but the stick is better, and the Araak stick is even better, and it is preferable if this is done with a dry stick moistened with water." [End of quote]

An-Nawawi also said in his Majmoo‘: "Anything that a person uses that removes the change (of the smell of the mouth) and the remains (that are on the teeth) is sufficient. This is the view of the scholars of our School and this is something they agreed upon. For instance, Al-Qaadhi Abu At-Tayyib and his companion the author of Ash-Shaamil (Ibn As-Sabbaagh) and others, said that it is permissible to clean one's teeth with papyrus sedge and Ashnaan ( saltwort/glasswort) and the like." [End of quote]

In fact, some contemporary scholars held that the toothpaste is more effective in cleaning. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen was asked, "Is using toothpaste sufficient instead of Siwaak, and will the person who uses it with the intention of purifying his mouth be rewarded? Meaning, will it be equal in reward to the use of Siwaak which the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, encouraged us to use when cleaning our teeth?"

He answered saying: "Yes, the use of a toothbrush and toothpaste suffices instead of Siwaak; rather, it cleans and purifies more, so if a person does so, he will have acted in accord with the Sunnah, because what is important is not the tool but the act and the result. Toothbrush and toothpaste result in a better result than the Siwaak alone. However, would we say that one should use toothbrush and toothpaste on all of the occasions on which it is desirable to use the Siwaak, or would we say that this is excessive and that it could affect the smell of the mouth or cause a wound or the like? This matter should be studied." [End of quote]

For more benefit on Siwaak and its benefits, please refer to Fatwa 91603.

Allaah Knows best.