What is the ruling on tayammum for one who stops at a mosque to pray and finds no water while traveling? Is it obligatory to search for water?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh. Some people, when they go out in their car and stop in a place where the time for prayer arrives and they have no water with them, perform tayammum, even though water may be very close to them. What is the ruling on this man’s tayammum?
Also, O Shaykh, if a man stops in a place, or at a mosque along the road, and finds no water in that place, or in that mosque, is it obligatory for him to search for water?
The Shaykh : Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said in the verse regarding wudu and ghusl:[Al-Ma'idah 5:6] The scholars said that His statement: is evidence that he sought it, because one does not say “he did not find” except of one who sought. As for a man who wants water to be available to him in the bathrooms around the mosque, that may not be the case. It is obligatory for a person, if water is close to him, to purify himself with water. But if it is far away, there is no harm if the time for prayer arrives and he prays, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Bulugh al-Maram 126, meaning: he prays with water if it is present, otherwise with tayammum.
The questioner : Is it obligatory to search for water, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, it is obligatory to search. Perhaps he will find things like bottles—ready-made ones—or find someone to sell him some. Now, praise be to Allah, you do not find a grocery store without water being sold in it, and drinking water can be used by a person for wudu.
Also, O Shaykh, if a man stops in a place, or at a mosque along the road, and finds no water in that place, or in that mosque, is it obligatory for him to search for water?
The Shaykh : Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said in the verse regarding wudu and ghusl:
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
وَإِنْ كُنْتُمْ جُنُباً فَاطَّهَّرُوا وَإِنْ كُنْتُمْ مَرْضَى أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَاءَ أَحَدٌ مِنْكُمْ مِنَ الْغَائِطِ أَوْ لامَسْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا مَاءً فَتَيَمَّمُواand you do not find
فَلَمْ تَجِدُواTherefore, anyone (of my followers) can pray (anywhere) and at any time that the Salat (prayer) is due.
فأيّما رجل أدركته الصّلاة فليصلّThe questioner : Is it obligatory to search for water, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, it is obligatory to search. Perhaps he will find things like bottles—ready-made ones—or find someone to sell him some. Now, praise be to Allah, you do not find a grocery store without water being sold in it, and drinking water can be used by a person for wudu.