In which the sick person fears death or severe pain from applying water to the limbs of ablution or washing the body in the state of major ritual impurity.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that she borrowed a necklace from Sayyidah Asma (may Allah be pleased with her) (during a stopover at a place). It was lost, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent some of his companions to search for it. Then the time for prayer came, and they performed the prayer without ablution. When they reached the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), they complained about this. Upon this, the verse of tayammum was revealed. Sayyiduna Usayd bin Hudayr (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "(O Mother of the Believers) May Allah reward you with goodness. By Allah, whenever you are faced with a difficulty, Allah makes a way out for you and grants goodness and blessings to the Muslims through it."

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that we went with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) on one of his journeys until when we were at the place of Bayda or Dhat al-Jaish, my necklace broke. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stopped to look for it and the people also stopped with him. While they were not at a place of water. So the people came to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) and said, "Do you not know what Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) has done? She has made the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the people stop while they are not at a place of water and they do not have water with them." So Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) came while the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had placed his head on my thigh and had fallen asleep. Then the complete hadith was narrated.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This Ummah (the Ummah of Muhammad) has been given superiority over people in three things. The earth has been made a mosque and a means of purification for us. Our rows have been made like the rows of angels. And I have been given these last verses of Surah Al-Baqarah from the treasure house beneath the Throne. No one before me has been given anything from it, nor will anyone after me be given it."

Even if the dust is on a mat or cloth, and even if it is not on the ground, with the evidence that the hadith of Sayyiduna Abu Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) which we have narrated is concise. «‏‏‏‏جعلت لنا الأرض طهورا» ‏‏‏‏ "The earth has been made a purifier for us," meaning in the case of scarcity or unavailability of water, while the person is not such a patient who fears death, worsening of illness, or severe pain due to the use of water (i.e., a healthy person can perform tayammum in the absence of water). This does not mean that the earth has been made a purifier for us even if the person is healthy, has water with him, or is not such a patient who has any fear from applying water to his body (so that he can also perform tayammum).

Sayyiduna Hudhayfah bin Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“We have been given superiority over people in three things: the whole earth has been made a mosque for us, when we do not find water its soil has been made a purifier for us, and our rows have been made like the rows of angels. And the last verses of Surah Al-Baqarah have been given to me from the treasure house beneath the Throne. No one before me has been given from it, nor will anyone after me be given from it.”

Contrary to the claim of our contemporary who says that it is not permissible to perform tayammum with the soil of saline land. The implication of this claim is that it is not permissible to perform tayammum in Madinah Munawwarah because the land of Madinah Munawwarah is saline. Whereas the Prophet (peace be upon him) has informed that it is Tayyibah and Taabah (pure and excellent). (That is, in case of necessity, tayammum can be performed with it.)

The noble wife of the Prophet, Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), narrates that when I became aware of my parents (i.e., when I gained consciousness), both of them were religious. And not a day would pass over us except that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would come to us morning and evening. Then the complete hadith is narrated. And in this narration, it is mentioned: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "The house of your migration has been shown to me. I was shown a land with date palms between two black rocky tracts, a land with salty soil." «‏‏‏‏لابتين» ‏‏‏‏ refers to the two Harrahs of Madinah, i.e., the parts with black rocky land. Then a lengthy hadith is narrated regarding the Prophet's (peace be upon him) migration from Makkah to Madinah. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that the statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "I was shown a land with date palms between two black rocky tracts," and his informing them that this is the place of their migration, and that the whole of Madinah Munawwarah was their place of migration, is evidence that the whole of Madinah is salty. And if it were not impermissible to perform tayammum with salty soil, and if salty soil were impure and filthy as some of our contemporaries think, taking evidence from the statement of Allah the Exalted: «‏‏‏‏وَالَّذِي خَبُثَ لَا يَخْرُجُ إِلَّا نَكِدًا» ‏‏‏‏ "And the vegetation (produced) by the bad (land) comes forth but scantily." (Surah Al-A'raf), then the meaning of their claim would be that Madinah Munawwarah is filthy and impure, not Tayyibah (pure and good). This is the statement of some people of enmity who, in criticizing Madinah Munawwarah, said that it is a filthy land. Know well, the Prophet (peace be upon him) has declared it Tayyibah or Tabah. Therefore, salty land itself is pure, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) has informed that Madinah Munawwarah is Tayyibah. And when Madinah is Tayyibah (pure), even though it is salty land, then Allah the Exalted has commanded in His Book to perform tayammum with pure earth. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) has informed that Madinah Munawwarah is Tayyibah (pure) and Tabah (excellent land), and has also informed that it is salty and brackish land. So from this it is clear and established that it is permissible to perform tayammum with salty land.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding tayammum: "One strike is for the face and both hands."

Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) regarding tayammum that he (peace be upon him) said: "For the face and hands, there is only one strike." (One should strike the earth with the hands only once.)