It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she borrowed a necklace from Asma (may Allah be pleased with her) and it was lost. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent some of the Companions to search for it. The time of prayer came upon them and they prayed without ablution. When they came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), they complained about this incident, and so the verse of tayammum was revealed. Usayd bin Hudayr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: May Allah Almighty grant you the best reward! By Allah, no (difficult) matter has ever befallen you but that Allah made a way out of it for you and placed blessing in it for the Muslims.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الطهارة / 1028
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whatever I forbid you, avoid it, and whatever I command you, do of it as much as you are able. Indeed, those before you were destroyed only because of their many questions and their disagreements with their prophets."
(b) The position of Sayyiduna Umar and Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with them both) is that one who finds neither water nor earth should not pray; in their view the only means of purification for a junub person is water, and when someone does not find water, in their view he should not pray.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الطهارة / 1029
Abu Wa'il (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): If he does not find water, he is not to pray? Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Yes; if I did not find water for a month, I would not pray. If I were to grant them a concession in this, then whenever one of them felt the cold, he would do like this, that is, perform tayammum, and pray. I said: What about the statement of Sayyiduna Ammar (may Allah be pleased with him) to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)? He said: I do not see that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was satisfied with the statement of Sayyiduna Ammar (may Allah be pleased with him).
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الطهارة / 1030