تیمم

Narrated from ʿAmmar ibn Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man came into the presence of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked a question: “I have become in need of a ritual bath (ghusl) and I have found no water (so what should I do?).” ʿAmmar ibn Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him), who was present there, said to ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him): “Do you not remember that once you and I were on a journey (and both of us became in need of ghusl)? You did not pray in that state, whereas I rolled and tumbled thoroughly on the ground (because I thought that the tayammum for major impurity, like ghusl, must be of the whole body). So when we returned from the journey I mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم, and he said: ‘(There was no need to lay your whole body on the ground and cover it with dust.) This much was enough for you.’ Saying this, the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم struck both his hands on the ground and blew on them (so that any dust that had stuck would fly off), then wiped both hands over his face and over his hands.”

At times a person is afflicted with such a condition or such an illness that taking a bath or performing wudu is harmful for him; likewise a person is sometimes in such a place that water is simply not available for a bath or wudu. In these circumstances, had permission been given to pray just like that, without bath and without wudu, one harm would have been that from these occasions the temperament would develop the habit of abandoning purity; and the second, greater harm would have been that the sense of careful preparation for presenting oneself at the court of Allah the Exalted, which comes from adhering to bath and wudu — and the conception of the greatness and sanctity of that presence which for that reason remains cast over the mind — would be impaired. Therefore the wisdom of Allah the Exalted has made tayammum, in such circumstances of compulsion, a substitute for bath and wudu. Now when a person, being unable to use bath and wudu, arranges tayammum for prayer and the like, then, God willing, no such wrong effect will fall upon his habit and his mind.

Tayammum is this: that, upon the surface of the ground, or upon something like earth, stone or sand (that is, upon any of the things that are generally found on the surface of the ground), one strikes the hands with the intention of purity and wipes those hands over the face and the hands. Merely wiping the hands in this way completes the tayammum; it is not necessary for earth and the like to stick to the face or hands — rather one should take care that earth and the like do not stick to the face or hands.

In this blessed hadith too the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم commanded the very same thing: that in tayammum it is not necessary for soil or dust to stick to the face or hands; rather, if dust sticks to the hands from striking them on the ground or the earth, it is better to blow it off. Allah the Exalted has said: “And if you do not find water, then perform tayammum with clean earth and wipe it over your faces and your hands.” (al-Ma’idah – 6)

Regarding the incident mentioned in this narration — ʿUmar’s (may Allah be pleased with him) not praying — the scholars have given various explanations. The best of these is that most probably he had hope of finding water and was waiting for it, and therefore he did not think it appropriate to pray with tayammum at that time — and Allah knows best. And ʿAmmar (may Allah be pleased with him) did not know until that time that the tayammum done in place of the ghusl for major impurity follows the very same method as the tayammum for wudu; so by his own ijtihad he rolled about on the ground. But when he mentioned this act of his to the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم, he صلى الله عليه وسلم corrected this mistake of his and explained that the tayammum done in the state of major impurity, in place of ghusl, follows the very same method as the tayammum for wudu.