Shaqiq bin Salamah narrates: Sayyiduna Abu Musa Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): If a person in a state of major impurity (junub) does not find water for a whole month, will he not perform the prayer? Sayyiduna Abdullah replied: No. Sayyiduna Abu Musa Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Do you not remember this incident, when Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): O Commander of the Faithful, do you not fear Allah? Do you not remember that the Messenger of Allah sent me and you to the camel herd, and I became junub, so I rolled in the dust. When I returned to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him about this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It would have been sufficient for you to do like this. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) struck his blessed hand on the earth and wiped his face and arms. Sayyiduna Abdullah said: This is established, I saw that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was not satisfied with this. So Sayyiduna Abu Musa Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Then what do you say about the verse in Surah An-Nisa: "And if you do not find water, then perform tayammum with clean earth." Upon this, Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If we start giving people concession in this matter, soon a time will come when if any of them finds the water cold, he will perform tayammum. The narrator named A'mash said: I asked Shaqiq: Does Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) have any other evidence regarding this issue? He replied: No.

Abdur Rahman bin Abzi narrates: A man came to Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: I have become junub (in a state of major ritual impurity), and I did not find water. So Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Do not perform the prayer. Then Sayyiduna Ammar said: O Commander of the Faithful, do you not remember this matter? You and I were in a battle and we both became junub and did not find water. You did not perform the prayer, but I rolled myself in the earth and performed the prayer. We then came to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and I mentioned this to him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It would have been sufficient for you to do this. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) struck his blessed hand on the earth, blew on it, and wiped both hands over his face and arms.