It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) liked to hold date palm twigs in his hand. One day, he had such a twig in his hand when he entered the mosque. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw some phlegm in the direction of the qiblah in the mosque, so he scraped it off until he cleaned it. Then, turning to the people in a state of anger, he said: "Does any one of you like that a man should come and spit on his face?" (Consider that) when any of you stands for prayer, his Lord is in front of him and an angel is on his right side, (therefore) he should not spit in front of him or to his right, rather he should spit under his left foot or to his left side. If he is in a hurry, then he should do so in this manner." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) rubbed one part of his garment with another part. And the narrator of the hadith, Yahya, (explaining this example) spat into his garment and rubbed it.