The Shaykh : Here, Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: وَإِنْ كُنْتُمْ جُنُباً فَاطَّهَّرُوا وَإِنْ كُنْتُمْ مَرْضَى أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَاءَ أَحَدٌ مِنْكُمْ مِنَ الْغَائِطِ أَوْ لامَسْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا مَاءً فَتَيَمَّمُوا صَعِيداً طَيِّباً And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. But 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 do not find water, then seek clean earth [Al-Ma'idah 5:6] If we do not find water and we are required to perform wudu' or ghusl, we must perform tayammum. We must perform tayammum with clean earth. The meaning of "clean" here is the opposite of "impure," and "impure" here means ritually impure. So what earth do we perform tayammum with? What earth do we perform tayammum with? Is it necessary for the earth to contain soil? The verse is absolute: فَتَيَمَّمُوا صَعِيداً طَيِّبا then seek clean earth [An-Nisa 4:43] The important thing is that it be pure, whether it contains soil, dust, or not. For example, if the ground has been rained on and is moist without any soil, is tayammum permissible on it? Yes, it is permissible. Sandy ground that contains only pure sand without dust, is it permissible to perform tayammum on it? Yes. Rocky ground that contains only clean stones, where the wind has removed the dust, is it permissible to perform tayammum on it? Yes, because Allah the Exalted said: فَتَيَمَّمُوا صَعِيداً طَيِّباً then seek clean earth [An-Nisa 4:43] and He did not restrict it to anything except that it be clean. The Sunnah, in agreement with the Qur'an, came in the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): الصعيد الطيب وضوء المسلم وإن لم يجد الماء عشر سنين، فإذا وجد الماء فليتق الله وليمسه بشرته Clean earth is the ablution of the Muslim, even if he does not find water for ten years. So when he finds water, let him fear Allah and let it touch his skin. Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq 1:880 The method of tayammum is easy, my brothers: Tayammum is an act of worship to Allah the Mighty and Majestic, by dusting the face and hands with soil or with what is likely to contain soil, thereby becoming purified. So how many limbs are involved in tayammum? Tayammum has only two limbs, which are: the face and the hands. The face and the hands only, because the most important thing in tayammum is worshiping Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Otherwise, it is known that a person does not see physical purity through tayammum, but by Allah, there is spiritual purity in it. What is it? Purity of the heart and humility before Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, by worshipping Him. If the greatest king in the world said to me or to one of you: "Strike the ground with your hands and wipe your face with them out of respect for me," would you obey him? No, by Allah, we would not obey him, even if he cut off our flesh. But when our Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, told us this, we said: "We hear and we obey," hearing and obeying. And so, when the purpose is worship, the purification was restricted to these two limbs: the face, because it is more noble than the head, and the hands, because they are more noble than the feet. And when a person worships Allah the Mighty and Majestic by dusting these two most perfect limbs, dusting what is below them is even more of a matter of course. Therefore, tayammum was restricted to these two limbs, which are: the face and the palms. Now, how many times do you wipe them? Once, because I gave you a useful rule a little while ago, which is: "That what is wiped is not wiped repeatedly" . Now, do you start tayammum with the face or with the hands? With the face, because Allah the Exalted started with it and said: فَامْسَحُوا بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُمْ wipe over your faces and your hands [An-Nisa 4:43] And our Imam and Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) has given us...

Rulings on Tayammum.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen

Machine translationRead the Arabic original

The Shaykh : Here, Allah the Mighty and Majestic says:

And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. But 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 do not find water, then seek clean earth

وَإِنْ كُنْتُمْ جُنُباً فَاطَّهَّرُوا وَإِنْ كُنْتُمْ مَرْضَى أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَاءَ أَحَدٌ مِنْكُمْ مِنَ الْغَائِطِ أَوْ لامَسْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا مَاءً فَتَيَمَّمُوا صَعِيداً طَيِّباً

[Al-Ma'idah 5:6]

If we do not find water and we are required to perform wudu' or ghusl, we must perform tayammum. We must perform tayammum with clean earth. The meaning of "clean" here is the opposite of "impure," and "impure" here means ritually impure. So what earth do we perform tayammum with? What earth do we perform tayammum with? Is it necessary for the earth to contain soil? The verse is absolute:

then seek clean earth

فَتَيَمَّمُوا صَعِيداً طَيِّبا

[An-Nisa 4:43]

The important thing is that it be pure, whether it contains soil, dust, or not. For example, if the ground has been rained on and is moist without any soil, is tayammum permissible on it? Yes, it is permissible. Sandy ground that contains only pure sand without dust, is it permissible to perform tayammum on it? Yes. Rocky ground that contains only clean stones, where the wind has removed the dust, is it permissible to perform tayammum on it? Yes, because Allah the Exalted said:

then seek clean earth

فَتَيَمَّمُوا صَعِيداً طَيِّباً

[An-Nisa 4:43]

and He did not restrict it to anything except that it be clean. The Sunnah, in agreement with the Qur'an, came in the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family):

Clean earth is the ablution of the Muslim, even if he does not find water for ten years. So when he finds water, let him fear Allah and let it touch his skin.

الصعيد الطيب وضوء المسلم وإن لم يجد الماء عشر سنين، فإذا وجد الماء فليتق الله وليمسه بشرته

Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq 1:880

The method of tayammum is easy, my brothers: Tayammum is an act of worship to Allah the Mighty and Majestic, by dusting the face and hands with soil or with what is likely to contain soil, thereby becoming purified. So how many limbs are involved in tayammum? Tayammum has only two limbs, which are: the face and the hands. The face and the hands only, because the most important thing in tayammum is worshiping Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Otherwise, it is known that a person does not see physical purity through tayammum, but by Allah, there is spiritual purity in it. What is it? Purity of the heart and humility before Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, by worshipping Him. If the greatest king in the world said to me or to one of you: "Strike the ground with your hands and wipe your face with them out of respect for me," would you obey him? No, by Allah, we would not obey him, even if he cut off our flesh. But when our Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, told us this, we said: "We hear and we obey," hearing and obeying. And so, when the purpose is worship, the purification was restricted to these two limbs: the face, because it is more noble than the head, and the hands, because they are more noble than the feet. And when a person worships Allah the Mighty and Majestic by dusting these two most perfect limbs, dusting what is below them is even more of a matter of course. Therefore, tayammum was restricted to these two limbs, which are: the face and the palms. Now, how many times do you wipe them? Once, because I gave you a useful rule a little while ago, which is: "That what is wiped is not wiped repeatedly". Now, do you start tayammum with the face or with the hands? With the face, because Allah the Exalted started with it and said:

wipe over your faces and your hands

فَامْسَحُوا بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُمْ

[An-Nisa 4:43]

And our Imam and Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) has given us...

Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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