What tayammum is, and its conditions
The definition of tayammum, when it stands in for wudu or ghusl, its six conditions, and the rulings of its intention.
Tayammum is a way of purifying yourself using clean soil or dust instead of water, when you cannot use water for wudu or ghusl.
Six things tayammum needs to be valid
- The intention (niyyah): deciding in your heart what you are purifying yourself for.
- Wiping (masah): you must actually wipe, not just touch.
- Using three or more fingers while wiping.
- Using pure soil or something similar to it.
- The material must be the kind that can purify.
- Not being able to reach or use water.
Tayammum is the act of purifying oneself symbolically by striking pure soil, or a similar substance, with the intention of purification, and then wiping it over the face and both hands.
Tayammum is a substitute for wudu and ghusl when water is unavailable or cannot be used: this covers, for example, a woman after menstruation or postnatal bleeding who cannot access water. It can also be performed for acts that do not strictly require purification at all, such as reciting the Quran aloud without touching it, visiting graves, or burying the dead, even where water is available.
Tayammum carries the same ruling as the wudu or ghusl it replaces: where wudu would be obligatory, tayammum is obligatory; where wudu would only be recommended, tayammum carries the same recommendation.
The six conditions for a valid tayammum
- Intention (niyyah).
- Wiping (masah).
- Using three or more fingers while wiping.
- Using pure soil or a similar material.
- The substance used must itself be purifying.
- Genuine inability to access water.
A general intention to obtain reward is sufficient for tayammum. For prayer specifically, though, the intention must be for an act of worship that itself requires purification.
| Intention made | Valid for prayer? |
|---|---|
| Purification, removal of impurity, removal of major impurity, or making prayer permissible | Yes: all of these are valid intentions |
| Voluntary or general prayer | Yes: this also covers obligatory prayer and other acts of worship |
| An act that is not a specific act of worship (entering a mosque, touching the Quran) or does not itself require purification | No |
| Reading the Quran, made while in a state of major impurity | Yes, it is also valid for prayer |
| The prostration of recitation (sajdah tilawah) | Yes, it is also valid for prayer |
| The prostration of gratitude (sajdah shukr), or a demonstration | No |
| Funeral or Eid prayer, out of fear of missing them for lack of time | Valid only for that specific prayer, unless the tayammum was actually made because of lack of water or illness, in which case it covers other prayers too |
| Wudu, made by someone in a state of major impurity | Yes: this purifies them from major impurity as well |
In Islamic terminology, tayammum is the act of purifying oneself symbolically by striking clean soil or a similar substance with the intention of purification, then wiping it over the face and both hands.
Tayammum substitutes for wuḍūʾ and ghusl where water is unavailable or its use is precluded: this extends, for instance, to a woman after ḥayḍ or nifās who cannot access water. It may equally be performed for acts that do not themselves require purification (reciting the Qurʼan aloud without touching it, visiting graves, burying the dead), even where water is at hand.
Tayammum takes the ruling of the wuḍūʾ or ghusl it stands in for: obligatory where that would be obligatory, and carrying the corresponding recommendation where that would only be recommended.
The six conditions of a valid tayammum
- Niyyah (intention).
- Masḥ (wiping).
- Wiping with three or more fingers.
- The use of pure soil or a substance similar to it.
- The substance used must itself be muṭahhir (purifying).
- Genuine inability (ʿajz) to use water.
A general intention directed at reward suffices for tayammum as such. For prayer specifically, however, the intention must attach to a particular act of worship that itself requires purification.
| Intention made | Valid for prayer? |
|---|---|
| Ṭahārah, removal of najāsah, removal of ḥadath akbar, or istibāḥat aṣ-ṣalāh (making prayer permissible) | Yes: each is a valid intention |
| Voluntary (nafl) or unspecified general prayer | Yes: this also covers farḍ prayer and other acts of worship |
| An act that is not itself a discrete act of worship (entering a mosque, touching the Qurʼan) or does not require purification at all | No |
| Reading the Qurʼan, made by one in a state of major impurity | Yes, valid for prayer as well |
| Sajdat at-tilāwah (the prostration of recitation) | Yes, valid for prayer as well |
| Sajdat ash-shukr (the prostration of gratitude), or a demonstration of the method | No |
| Funeral prayer or Eid prayer, made from fear of missing them for want of time | Valid only for that specific prayer, unless the tayammum was in fact necessitated by lack of water or by illness, in which case it also covers other prayers |
| Wuḍūʾ, made by one in a state of major impurity | Yes: this also lifts the major impurity |
Terms on this page
Related
- What tayammum may be done with, and when it is allowed Which materials tayammum can and cannot be performed on, and the situations that make tayammum permissible instead of water.
- How to make tayammum, step by step The two strikes and full wiping that make up tayammum, its sunnahs, the method in order, and what breaks it.
- Legal and physical impurity, and the ways things are purified The difference between legal impurity (hadath) and physical impurity (najasah), and the twelve recognised ways of purifying something.
- When wudu is fard, wajib, sunnah or mustahabb The occasions on which wudu is obligatory, necessary before an act, recommended, or simply preferable.