Fiqh (Jurisprudence)

Noor-ul-Idha wa Najatul Arwaah

(The light of clarification and the Salvation of Souls)


Tayammum (Dry Ablution)

 Tayammum Linguistically:

Purpose & Intention

According to the Scholars:

The wiping of the face and hands on soil which is pure.

Allah said, and if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you comes from the Gha'it (toilet), or from Lamastum (touching) women, but you do not find water, then perform Tayammum with clean earth, Allah then said,

or comes from the Gha'it. The Gha'it is, literally, the flat land, and this part of the Ayah refers to the minor impurity.

Allah then said,

or you touched women, referring to sexual intercourse and this part of the Ayah refers to the major impurity For instance, Allah said in another Ayah,

And if you divorce them before you have touched them, and you have appointed unto them the dowry, then pay half of that (2:237)

In the Two Sahihs, it is recorded that `Imran bin Husayn said,

: : :
Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) saw a person sitting away from the people and not praying with them. He asked him, `O so-and-so! What prevented you from offering the prayer with the people, are not you Muslim' He replied, `Yes, O Allah's Messenger! I am Junub and there is no water.' The Prophet (s.a.w) said, `Perform Tayammum with clean earth and that will be sufficient for you.

In his Sahih, Muslim recorded that Hudhayfah bin Al-Yaman said that the Messenger of Allah said,

:
We were given preference over people in three things. Our lines (in prayer) were arranged in rows to resemble the rows of the angels, all of the earth was made a Masjid for us, and its dust was made clean for us when there is no water.

In another Hadeeth Hazart Abu Dharr (ra) said that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said,

Clean earth is pure for the Muslim, even if he does not find water for ten years. When he finds water, let him use it for his skin, for this is better.

Rubbing your faces and hands, this indicates that Tayammum is a substitute for normal ablution, not that it involves cleaning the parts that normal ablution does. Therefore, it is sufficient in Tayammum to just wipe the face and hands, as the consensus concurs

The Reason behind allowing Tayammum Hazart `A'ishah said, "We set out with Allah's Messenger on one of his journeys until we reached Al-Bayda' or Dhat-ul-Jaysh, where a necklace of mine was broken (and lost). Allah's Messenger stayed there to search for it, and so did the people along with him. There was no water source or any water with them at that place, so the people went to Abu Bakr As-Siddiq and said, `Don't you see what `A'ishah has done! She has made Allah's Messenger and the people stay where there is no source of water and they have no water with them.' Abu Bakr came while Allah's Messenger was sleeping with his head on my thigh. He said to me, `You have detained Allah's Messenger and the people where there is no source of water and they have no water with them.' So he admonished me and said what Allah wished him to say and hit me on my flank with his hand. Nothing prevented me from moving (because of pain) but the position of Allah's Messenger on my thigh. Allah's Messenger got up when dawn broke and there was no water. So Allah revealed the verses of Tayammum, and they all performed Tayammum. Usayd bin Hudayr said, `O the family of Abu Bakr! This is not the first blessing of yours.' Then the camel on which I was riding was moved from its place and the necklace was found beneath it.'' (Bukhari and Muslim)


Conditions That Validate Tayammum


There are 8 conditions that one must fulfil to validate Tayammum:

1) The first condition that validates Tayammum is the intention; and its reality is to have a firm resolve in the heart upon the action. The time for the intention is when one places his hands upon the substance he intends to make Tayammum with.


There are 3 conditions that validate the intention:
a) One be a Muslim.

b) One possess the ability to differentiate.

c) Have knowledge of what he intends.


To validate ones intention of Tayammum for ritual prayer, it is conditional to satisfy one of three things:

a) That one intends purification.

b) One intends the Tayammum to make prayer permissible for himself.

c) One intends the Tayammum to perform a specific act of worship, an act which requires purity.


A person cannot prayer if he only intends Tayammum. And neither can a person prayer if he intends the recitation of Quran, yet he is in a state of major impurity (Janabah).

1 Intention:
Is conditional for Tayammum and is required at the time one strikes the earth.

Summary Diagram
3 2 Valid Intention:
For this intention to be valid, 3 conditions: 1) Must be Muslim. 2) Sane. 3)Have knowledge about what he intends.

Intention For Ritual Parayer:

One must intend one of three things in order for the Tayammum to be correct for Salah: 1) Intention of purification. 2) To make prayer permissible for oneself. 3) An act of worship that originally requires purity.


2) One must have a valid reason such as being separated from water the distance of a mile, even though one is in the city.

Contracting an illness,

It is so cold that one fears harm to life or limb or that he will become seriously ill One fears an enemy

extract water.

Fear of thirst or needing the water to make dough, though one cannot use this water of soup The absence of an instrument to


If one fears he will miss the Funeral prayer or Eid prayer, then he is to make Tayammum. Even if one begins the Funeral or Eid prayer with the Imam and then ones Wudhu breaks, (whilst in prayer) he is permitted to renew Tayammum and complete the same prayer.

It is not a valid reason if one fears he will miss the Friday prayer or the time of an obligatory prayer.


3) The third condition requires that it be from a pure earth substance such as, soil, stone and sand.

A person cannot perform Tayammum with wood, silver or gold.

4) The fourth condition is to completely wipe the parts required.


5) The fifth condition requires one to wipe with the entire hand or majority of it

It is not valid if a person wipes only two fingers even if he does so repeatedly until the required area is covered.

However, in Wudhu a person may wipe his head with two fingers.


6) The sixth condition is that it must be with two strikes with the inside of the palms over the soil.

Even if the two strikes are from the same place.

An alternative solution to the two strikes is the wiping of the soil already present on ones body provided one intends Tayammum when doing this.


7) The seventh condition is, things that are incompatible with Tayammum must discontinue before proceeding such as menstrual periods, post natal bleeding or minor impurity.

8) The eighth condition is to remove obstacles that prevent the wiping of the skin such as wax or fatty grease.