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Tayammum

First Section: Reasons for Its Performance

It is necessary for one who is unable to perform wudhu for one of a number of reasons, the most important of which are three:

First: If a person cannot find water then he performs tayammum in order not to miss his prayer (salaat). And his prayer remains correct as long as there is no water available until the end of the time for prayer.

Second: If the water harms him then Allah (swt) does not wish harm for people, so He made an easy option for the sick person for whom water is harmful, which is Tayammum. If water is harmful for the person until the end of the time for prayer, then he should do tayammum and pray and the prayer he thus performs is correct.

Third: If a person has a little quantity of water such that if he uses it in wudhu he fears that he will suffer severe thirst and may die or collapse as a result, then Allah (swt) is not happy that he is inflicting a believer with harm – so he has made tayammum a replacement for wudhu.

Also, if you see another believer suffering from intense thirst then do not do wudhu with the little water you had, but give it to your brother in faith to drink. To fulfil the essential need of a believer is more important and that is dear to Allah (swt).

Issue 44: If the time remaining for doing wudhu and prayer is running out, as happens when one gets up for morning prayer near the time for sunrise, such that you know that if you do wudhu and then pray your prayer will have missed its time, then if you are quicker at doing the tayammum and prayer before the rising of the sun, it is preferable that you perform the tayammum and pray. However, you must performance wudhu and repeat the prayer afterwards.

Second Section: On What is Used for Doing Tayammum

The reader may ask on what the tayammum is done. The answer is that it is permissible to do tayammum on common dry earth, like soil (turaab), sand (raml), pebbles, rock, natural marble. It is also permissible to do tayammum on concrete, brick, cement, gypsum, mosaic.

Issue 45: Tayammum is not permissible on glass, plants, ashes, iron and fabric.

Issue 46: Tayammum is not permissible on impure earth even if it is dry. It is also not permissible on usurped earth whose owner is not happy that tayammum be done on it, as if the person is aware that free utilization of usurped property is forbidden then the intention of nearness to Allah (swt) is not achieved and thus the tayammum is not correct.

Third Section: Method of Performing Tayammum

I request attention my dear and honourable believer towards the method of performing tayammum, so that you don’t fall into error. The method is as follows:

First make intention for doing Tayammum (Translator’s addition).

Strike the earth with the palms of your hands once. Then it is preferable to wipe off the excess earth from both palms by smacking one against the other.

Then wipe the whole of the forehead, from the hairline to the end of the forehead, the whole of both the eyebrows, and to the tip of the nose. All that must be wiped in sequences from top to bottom, not moving the hands from right to left, such that the whole area is covered.

Then wipe the top of the right hand from above the wrist to the tip of the fingers, with the palm of the left hand. Then wipe the whole of the left hand from above the wrist to the tip of the fingrs, with the palm of the right hand. And the wiping should be in sequence, not veering to the right or left. And this method is obligatory.

And it is preferable to hit the earth a second time, shake the hands as above, and to wipe the right and left hands again in the above manner.

Issue 47: It is not permissible for one upon whom tayammum is obligatory, because he is unable to do wudhu, to do tayammum before the time of the salaat has started, according to obligatory precaution. Rather he should wait until the time of prayer starts, and then do the tayammum for that prayer. If performing wudhu is harmful to you and you wish to do tayammum for the dhuhr (noon) prayer for example, then you do not do tayammum before dhuhr but you should wait until it is dhuhr time and then do the tayammum.

Note: If some of the area of the body upon which wudhu is performed are either broken or injured, and it is not possible to make them pure, then there are detailed rules for wudhu in that instance. These are mentioned in more elaborate books on Islamic rulings.