Step 6 of 7
What Breaks Tayammum
Everything that breaks wudu breaks a tayammum made in place of wudu, and whatever requires ghusl breaks a tayammum made in place of ghusl.
Tayammum also ends when its reason ends: if you made it because there was no water and you then find water before you pray, or you become able to use water again, it is no longer valid. The Prophet ﷺ said that pure earth is the Muslim's purification even if he finds no water for ten years, “and when he finds water, let him touch his skin with it, for that is better.”
If you find water only after you have finished the prayer, the prayer stands. Two Companions prayed with tayammum on a journey and then found water within the prayer's time; one repeated and one did not, and the Prophet ﷺ told the one who did not: “You followed the sunnah and your prayer was enough for you.” The schools add details for special cases: the Maliki school recommends repeating within the time for one who fell short in searching, and the Shafi'i school requires a resident who used tayammum for lack of water to make the prayer up.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
What happens if you find water during the prayer?
2 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Maliki, Shafi'i.
Show each school
- Breaks the prayerHanafi · Hanbali
- Does not break the prayerMaliki
- Does not break a traveler's prayerShafi'i
- Hanafi
- Seeing water you are able to use, in the middle of the prayer, ends the tayammum and the prayer, so you make wudu and pray again.
- Maliki
- Finding water during the prayer does not invalidate it, since it was begun with a valid purification; the exception is someone who had water in his belongings and forgot it.
- Shafi'i
- For a traveler the prayer continues, though breaking it off to make wudu is better; for a resident, whose prayer would have to be made up anyway, it is broken.
- Hanbali
- Finding water ends the tayammum even in the middle of the prayer, so you make wudu and begin the prayer again.
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 124Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Sahih · Al-Albani: Sahih · Bashar Awad Maarouf: Hasan Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: HasanSahih
- Sunan Abi Dawud 332Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih · Shuaib Al Arnaut: Sahih Lighairihi · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad HasanSahih
- Sunan Abi Dawud 338Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad HasanSahih
- Sunan al-Nasa'i 433Graded by Abu Ghuddah: Sahih · Al-Albani: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad HasanSahih
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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