Purification

Tayammum: Dry Ablution When There Is No Water

Tayammum is a dispensation from Allah: when water cannot be found or cannot be used, a Muslim purifies himself with clean earth. “And if you do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe your faces and hands with it” (Qur’an 5:6).

When is tayammum allowed?

When no water can be found after a reasonable search, for example while travelling.
When using water would cause harm: illness, a wound, or extreme cold with no means of heating it.
When the available water is needed for drinking.
When fetching water would put one in danger.

Tayammum replaces both wudu and ghusl.

How to perform tayammum

Make the intention and say “Bismillah”.
Strike clean earth (soil, sand, stone, a dusty wall) once with both palms.
Blow lightly on the hands or shake off excess dust.
Wipe the face with both palms.
Wipe the back of the right hand with the left palm, then the back of the left hand with the right palm.

This is the method the Prophet ﷺ taught ‘Ammar ibn Yasir: one strike for the face and hands (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim). Some schools prefer two strikes, one for the face and one for the arms up to the elbows.

What breaks tayammum

Everything that breaks wudu breaks tayammum. In addition, tayammum ends as soon as water becomes available and usable. A prayer completed with tayammum does not need to be repeated if water is found afterwards.

Wounds and casts

Someone with a bandage or cast washes the healthy parts and wipes over the bandage with a wet hand. Some scholars add tayammum for the injured part when wiping is not possible.

Tayammum in hospitals, on journeys and at work

The verse of tayammum was revealed when ‘A’ishah lost her necklace during a journey and the Companions camped where there was no water (al-Bukhari). The Prophet ﷺ said: “The earth has been made for me a place of prayer and a means of purification, so whoever is overtaken by the prayer, let him pray” (al-Bukhari, Muslim).

A patient whom water would harm, a worker in the desert, or a traveller on a long road can all rely on tayammum. Someone who has neither water nor clean earth, for example a patient fixed to a bed, still prays at the proper time in the state they are in; Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity.

In brief

Tayammum replaces wudu and ghusl when water is missing or harmful.
It is done with clean earth: one strike, then wipe the face and hands.
Whatever breaks wudu breaks tayammum, and finding usable water ends it.
A prayer prayed with tayammum is not repeated if water is found later.
It is a mercy revealed when the Companions were without water on a journey.

Questions and answers

Can I do tayammum on a carpet?

Only if it has dust on it. Tayammum is made with earth or anything from the surface of the earth.

Can I pray several prayers with one tayammum?

The Hanafi school treats tayammum like wudu, valid until it is broken. The Maliki and Shafi‘i schools require a new tayammum for each obligatory prayer.

Is a tayammum made before the prayer time valid?

The majority say it should be made after the time of the prayer has begun; the Hanafi school allows it before.

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