What tayammum is, and why it matters

Tayammum means wiping your face and hands with clean earth, with the intention of becoming pure. You do it when you cannot use water.

Allah says: if you cannot find water, then use clean earth, and wipe your faces and hands with it¹. He says the same in another verse². In the same verse He adds: Allah does not want to make things hard for you³.

• It takes the place of wudu (the small washing before salah).
• It also takes the place of ghusl (the full bath), for example after sex, a wet dream, or the end of a period⁴.
• It is the same few movements for both. There is no tayammum of the whole body.

Tayammum began with a lost necklace. The army stopped in a place with no water, dawn came, and Allah revealed the verses of tayammum⁵.

A gift to this ummah

Nabi ﷺ said he was given five things that no prophet before him was given. One of them: the earth was made for me a place of prayer and a means of purity. So wherever the time of salah reaches someone from my ummah, let them pray¹⁰.

In another hadith he said: the whole earth was made a masjid for us, and its dust a purifier for us when we cannot find water¹¹.

When you may use tayammum

There are two main reasons: you have no water, or you have water but using it would harm you.

1. There is no water

Nabi ﷺ saw a man sitting apart who did not pray with the people. The man said: I am junub (I need ghusl) and there is no water. Nabi ﷺ said: use clean earth, it is enough for you¹². Later, when water came, Nabi ﷺ gave him a pot of it and told him: pour it over yourself¹³.

Look for water first

Before you make tayammum, look for water in a sensible way. Check what you are carrying. Ask the people with you. Look nearby, if it is easy and safe.

• Hanafis: if the nearest water is about a mile (a bit under 2 km) away or more, you may make tayammum.
• Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis: search the area around you, as far as people normally go without real hardship, without leaving your group and without losing the prayer time.
• You do not have to put yourself in danger, leave your belongings unsafe, or walk far in the dark to look.

If water can be bought at a normal price and you can afford it, buy it. If the price is unfair, you do not have to.

2. You need the water for drinking

If you have only a little water and you, the people with you, or even your animals need it to drink, keep it for drinking. Make tayammum. Scholars agree on this. Saving a life comes first.

3. Water would harm you

• Illness or a wound that water would make worse, or slow to heal. Allah mentions the sick person by name in the tayammum verse¹⁴.
• Dangerous cold, when you have no way to warm the water and washing could make you seriously ill.
• Fear: water is near, but an enemy, a wild animal or a real danger stands between you and it.

Your own honest experience counts, and so does a doctor's advice. You do not need to be sure you will die. A real fear of serious harm is enough.

When tayammum is not allowed

• The water is just a bit cold. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud worried that if people were given an easy way out, they would make tayammum just because the water felt cold²⁰. Cold that is only uncomfortable is not a reason.
• You are in a hurry, or you feel lazy.
• Water is right there and you can use it without harm.
• You feel shy to make wudu in a public bathroom or at work. Find a quiet corner, or use the sink. Shyness is not a reason for tayammum.

In short: tayammum is for real need, not for comfort.

How to do it, step by step

Ammar ibn Yasir once needed ghusl and had no water. He did not know about tayammum for ghusl, so he rolled in the dust like an animal, to cover his whole body. When he told Nabi ﷺ, Nabi ﷺ said: it would have been enough to do this. Then he struck the ground lightly with his hands, blew off the dust, and wiped his face and hands²¹. In another report he struck the ground once, then wiped one hand with the other, the backs of his hands, and his face²².

The steps

• 1. Intention. In your heart, mean to make tayammum for salah, or to lift your state of needing ghusl. All four schools say the intention is required for tayammum.
• 2. Say Bismillah.
• 3. Strike clean earth lightly with both palms, fingers a little apart.
• 4. Blow or tap off the extra dust²³. You do not need to get dirty.
• 5. Wipe your whole face once with both palms, from the top of the forehead to the chin, and ear to ear.
• 6. Wipe your hands. Wipe the back of the right hand with the left palm, then the back of the left hand with the right palm²⁴. If you wear a ring, move it.

That is all. It takes less than a minute.

Where the schools differ

Where to find clean earth

• Outside: soil, sand, or a dusty stone. It must be clean, not a place where people or animals relieve themselves.
• Indoors: Nabi ﷺ once wiped on a mud wall to make tayammum²⁵. A plain brick, stone or plaster wall with some dust works.
• Not earth: painted walls, wallpaper, plastic, carpet, wood and glass, unless there is real dust on them. Shafi'is and Hanbalis say there must be dust.
• Carry your own: some people keep a smooth stone or a small bag of clean earth for hospital stays, long flights or travel.

What tayammum lets you do

Tayammum replaces wudu and ghusl. Whatever you could do after wudu or ghusl, you can do after tayammum:

• pray fard (required) and sunnah prayers,
• touch and read the Quran,
• make tawaf (walk around the Ka'bah),
• and, after tayammum for ghusl, stay in the masjid.

Before or after the prayer time starts?

• Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis: make tayammum for a fard prayer after its time has started.
• Hanafis: you may make it before the time, like wudu.

If you expect to find water before the prayer time ends, most scholars say it is better to wait a little and pray with water. If you do not expect any, pray early in the time with tayammum.

What ends tayammum

• Anything that breaks wudu breaks tayammum too. Using the toilet, passing wind, deep sleep, and so on. See Wudu.
• Finding water you can use. Nabi ﷺ said: clean earth purifies a Muslim even for ten years without water. But when you find water, let it touch your skin, for that is better²⁶.
• The reason going away. If you made tayammum because of illness, it ends when you are able to use water again.

Found water after you prayed?

Two men were travelling. The prayer time came and they had no water, so they made tayammum and prayed. Then they found water while the prayer time was still in. One of them made wudu and prayed again. The other did not²⁷.

Nabi ﷺ told the one who did not repeat: you followed the sunnah, and your prayer was enough. And he told the one who repeated: you get the reward of two prayers²⁸.

• So you do not need to repeat the prayer, according to most scholars.
• If you find water during the prayer: Hanafis and Hanbalis say the prayer breaks, so make wudu and start again. Malikis and Shafi'is say carry on and finish it, as long as it was a case where you did not have to repeat it.

If you made tayammum in place of ghusl

Tayammum lets you pray, but once water comes, you still make ghusl before your next salah. That is what Nabi ﷺ told the junub man when the water arrived: pour it over yourself²⁹. The prayers you already prayed with tayammum still count.

One tayammum, how many prayers?

Easy and safe: make a fresh tayammum for each fard prayer. It takes a minute, and it is valid in every school.

A wound or cast on one part

Often only one part of the body cannot touch water, like a cut on the hand or a cast on the arm. The rest is fine. What do you do?

All the schools agree on the main idea: wash what you can, and do not put water where it will harm. They differ on how to fill the gap:

• Hanafis: if most of the wudu parts are healthy, wash the healthy parts and wipe over the wound or bandage. If most are injured, make tayammum only. You do not mix washing and tayammum.
• Malikis: close to the Hanafis. Wash the healthy parts and wipe over the injured part. If only a very small healthy part is left, make tayammum only.
• Shafi'is: wash the healthy parts, wipe over the bandage with water, and also make tayammum for the injured part.
• Hanbalis: wash the healthy parts and wipe over the bandage. If there is no bandage and even wiping the wound would harm, make tayammum for that part.

For the full rules on bandages and casts, see Wiping over socks and bandages.

In hospital, on a plane, and other cases

Patients in hospital

• If you can make wudu at the sink, or with a bowl of water by the bed, do that.
• On a drip, after surgery, or told to keep a wound dry: wash the parts you can and wipe over the dressing, or make tayammum, as above.
• Cannot move at all? Ask a family member or nurse to bring a stone or a little clean earth. If you cannot even lift your hands, someone else can wipe your face and hands for you while you make the intention.
• Nothing at all available, no water and no earth? Most scholars say: pray as you are, on time. Do not leave the prayer. Allah does not ask more than you can do³⁰. Schools differ on whether you repeat it later.

For how to pray in bed, sitting or lying down, see Praying when you are sick.

On a plane

• Planes have water in the bathroom. In most cases you can make a light wudu at the sink, using little water, and wipe over your socks if you are wearing them.
• Tayammum is only allowed if water really cannot be used, for example it is turned off, or there is so little that it is needed for drinking.
• Seat covers, plastic and carpet are not earth. If you think you may need tayammum, carry a clean stone or a little earth in your bag.

Tayammum for someone who has died

The body of a Muslim who dies is washed. If there is no water, or washing would tear the body, for example after bad burns, scholars say the person washing gives the body tayammum instead: they strike clean earth and wipe the face and hands of the person who died. Then the funeral prayer goes ahead as normal.

Tayammum for things other than salah

Once Nabi ﷺ was greeted while he was not in wudu. He went to a wall, made tayammum, and then returned the greeting³¹. Scholars take from this that tayammum can be made for good acts like dhikr, even when water is not far.

Hanafis also allow tayammum for the funeral prayer or the Eid prayer if you would miss it completely while making wudu, because these cannot be made up later.

Learn it step by step

Want short, easy lessons with quizzes? Try the Tayammum unit: four short lessons on how it began, when you may use it, how to do it, and what ends it.

Related chapters: Wudu, Ghusl, Wiping over socks and bandages, Praying when you are sick.

Common questions

The water at work is cold and I am short on time. Can I make tayammum?

No. Cold that is only uncomfortable, and being busy, are not reasons³². Make wudu with the water you have. It only takes a few minutes.

I woke up needing ghusl, it is freezing and there is no hot water. What do I do?

If you have any way to warm the water, use it. If you truly fear getting seriously ill, make tayammum and pray, like Amr ibn al-As did³³. Make ghusl later when you can do it safely, before the next prayer if possible.

My doctor said keep my stitches dry for a week. How do I make wudu?

Wash every part you can. Wipe a wet hand over the dressing on the stitches. If even that is not allowed, make tayammum for that part, as your school says. You do not need to repeat the prayers later.

I am new to Islam and I am not sure about all this. Is my prayer still okay?

Yes. If you did your honest best with what you knew, your prayer counts. Allah does not ask more than you can do. When you are unsure, ask your local imam. Asking is the cure for not knowing³⁴.

Can a woman make tayammum after her period if there is no water?

Yes. Tayammum takes the place of ghusl after a period, just as it does after janabah. When water comes, she makes ghusl.

My child is camping and the only water is for drinking. What should they do?

Keep the water for drinking and make tayammum on clean soil or a dusty stone. Teach them the simple steps. It is a nice moment to show them how easy Allah made the deen.

Can I make tayammum on a tiled floor or a car seat?

Not normally. Tiles, plastic and fabric are not earth. Hanafis and Malikis allow natural stone. If there is real dust on a surface, some scholars allow it. It is easier to carry a clean stone.

Can someone with tayammum lead people who made wudu?

Yes, most scholars allow it. Amr ibn al-As led his men after making tayammum, and Nabi ﷺ did not object³⁵.