Tayammum: purification with the earth

Allah said:

If you are ill or on a journey, or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself, or you have touched women and find no water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands.sura an-Nisa 43

Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you.sura al-Ma'ida 6

When tayammum is permitted

• Absence of water within a reasonable distance.
• Illness or injury for which water would worsen the condition.
• Intense cold that would harm the body.
• Lack of time: seeking water would cause missing a congregational prayer (one view).

The model comes from the hadith of 'Ammar ibn Yasir (al-Bukhari 334): sent on an errand, impure and without water, he rolled in the earth like an animal; the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) showed him:

This alone would have sufficed you: striking the earth with your palms, blowing on them, passing the right hand over the face and the left over the hands.al-Bukhari 334

The manner

1. The intention to purify oneself for prayer.
2. Saying "Bismillah".
3. Striking clean earth once with both palms.
4. Wiping the face with both hands.
5. Striking the earth a second time (Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis; one strike for Hanafis), then wiping the hands to the wrists — or to the elbows for those who equate the hands with the arms.

Validity and differences

• Duration: tayammum remains valid for several prayers as long as the dust persists and no nullifying cause occurs (majority, including an-Nawawi); Hanafis limit it to one obligatory prayer.
• Nullification: by anything that breaks wudu, and by finding water.
• Late-found water: one who prayed by tayammum fearing to miss the prayer repeats it with water afterwards (majority view).