❖ What is the Method of Tayammum? ❖
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Question:
What is the method of performing tayammum?
Answer:
The method of tayammum is the same whether it is performed in place of wudu or ghusl. One should make the intention, say Bismillah, then strike both hands on clean soil, dust them off or blow on them, and wipe the face and the backs of the palms. Wiping any other body part is not legislated.
✿ Qur’anic Evidence
Allah تعالى says:
﴿فَلَمْ تَجِدُوْا مَاءً فَتَيَمَّمُوا صَعِيْدًا طَيِّبًا فَامْسَحُوْا بِوُجُوْهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُمْ﴾
(al-Nisāʾ: 43, al-Māʾidah: 6)
“If you do not find water, then perform tayammum with clean earth; wipe over your faces and your hands.”
✿ Hadith Evidence
Sayyidunā ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir رضي الله عنه said:
“I once became in a state of janābah while on a mission. Since I could not find water, I rolled in the dust like an animal. When I mentioned this to the Prophet ﷺ, he said:
إنما كان يكفيك أن تضرب بيديك الأرض ، ثم تنفخ ، ثم تمسح بهما وجهك وكفيك.
‘It would have been enough for you to strike your hands once on the earth, blow off the dust, and then wipe your face and palms.’”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 347, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 368 — wording from Muslim)
✿ Consensus of the Scholars
❀ Ḥāfiẓ al-Nawawī رحمه الله (d. 676H) said:
أجمعوا على أن التيمم مختص بالوجه واليدين سواء تيمم عن الحدث الأصغر أو الأكبر.
“The scholars are unanimous that tayammum is limited to the face and hands, whether it is performed in place of wudu or ghusl.”
(al-Majmūʿ: 2/207)
❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr رحمه الله (d. 774H) said:
يكفي مسح الوجه واليدين فقط بالإجماع.
“Wiping only the face and hands suffices in tayammum, by consensus.”
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr: 2/319)
Conclusion:The correct method of tayammum is to intend purification, strike the hands on clean earth, wipe the face and the palms, and nothing beyond this. This is established by the Qur’an, authentic hadith, and scholarly consensus.
