Step 1 of 7
What Tayammum Is
Tayammum is wiping the face and hands with pure earth, with the intention of purifying yourself for prayer. It takes the place of wudu, and also of ghusl, when water cannot be found or cannot be used.
Allah says in Surat al-Nisa' and again in Surat al-Ma'idah: ﴿فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا۟ مَآءً فَتَيَمَّمُوا۟ صَعِيدًا طَيِّبًا﴾ (“and you find no water, then seek pure earth”). 'A'ishah related that this verse came down on a journey when the army had stopped to look for her lost necklace, in a place with no water, and the people prayed with tayammum.
The Prophet ﷺ counted it among the gifts given to his community: the earth was made for him a place of prayer and a means of purification, so whoever is reached by the time of prayer may pray wherever he is. Tayammum is a mercy and an ease, not a lesser kind of worship.
All four schools agree on this step.
- Qur'an 4:43
- Qur'an 5:6
- Sahih al-Bukhari 334 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 367Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 335 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 521Sahih · in the two Sahihs
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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