Tayammum


Tayammum is the Islamic act of dry Ritual purification using a purified sand or dust, which may be performed in place of ritual washing if no clean water is readily available or if one is suffering from moisture-induced skin inflammation or scaling.

Circumstances when tayammum is necessary

Tayammum may be substituted for wudu or ghusl when access to water is restricted or impractical, namely:
Clarifying the meaning of the verse
4:43 O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying or in a state of janabah, except those passing through , until you have washed . And if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and find no water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and your hands . Indeed, Allah is ever Pardoning and Forgiving.

Thus, in case of illness, even if there is water, one still does not need to wash.

Performing Tayammum

  1. Finding a piece of ground which is free of najaasah. This could be any surface that naturally collects dust like rock, sand or grass.
  2. Mentally make niyyah, or intention to make tayammum.
  3. Recite the bismillah.
  4. Place the hands on the surface of the ground.
  5. Lift your hands and ensure that there is no dust on your palm surface by hitting your hands together.
  6. Rub your face with both your hands. The face encompasses the right ear to the left, and the top of the forehead to the bottom of the chin
  7. Rub your hands with one another.
The same conditions that invalidate wudu also invalidate tayammum. In addition, a person's tayammum is invalidated as and when water becomes available.

Items on which Tayammum is permitted

Tayammum is permitted on
all items which have thick dust on them, baked earthen pots, clay, limestone, the ابخش stone, taahir earth,
and walls of mud, stone or brick.

Items on which Tayammum is not permitted

Tayammum is not permitted on things that are not earthen, such as things that burn and turn into ashes or things that can be melted by heat. Examples include: