How do I do tayammum?
Yes, it's easy: it's a quick dry purification. Tayammum replaces wudu or ghusl when you have no water or can't use it, for example because of illness. Make the intention, strike clean earth lightly with your palms, blow off the excess, then wipe your face and your hands. It takes about ten seconds.
Where it comes from
Tayammum is in the Quran itself, in the same verse that describes wudu:
The Prophet ﷺ counted it as a special gift: "The earth has been made for me (and for my followers) a place for praying and a thing to perform Tayammum" (Sahih al-Bukhari 335). It works for both minor impurity (instead of wudu) and major impurity (instead of ghusl). When a man told him he needed ghusl but had no water, he said, "Perform Tayammum with clean earth and that will be sufficient for you" (Sahih al-Bukhari 348).
When you're allowed to use it
- No water: you've looked reasonably and there's none, for example while hiking or camping.
- Water would harm you: an illness, wound or condition where a doctor says to keep water off, or real danger from extreme cold with no way to warm it.
- Only enough to drink: if you need the water you have to stay hydrated.
In everyday Western life, water is almost always available, even on planes and at school or work. Tayammum isn't a shortcut for when wudu feels inconvenient. See Can I pray on a plane?
Step by step
Ammar ibn Yasir once rolled in the dust when he needed ghusl. The Prophet ﷺ showed him a simpler way: he "stroked lightly the earth with his hands and then blew off the dust and passed his hands over his face and hands" (Sahih al-Bukhari 338).
- Make the intention in your heart and say "Bismillah."
- Strike clean earth lightly with both palms.
- Blow or tap off the excess.
- Wipe your whole face once.
- Wipe the back and front of each hand.
Where the schools differ
- Number of strikes: the Hanbali school follows Ammar's hadith: one strike for the face and hands. The Hanafi and Shafi'i schools use two strikes, one for the face and one for the arms up to the elbows. Malikis require one and recommend a second for the arms.
- What surface: the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools require earth with dust that sticks to the hands. The Hanafi and Maliki schools allow any natural ground surface, like sand, stone or a clay brick, even without dust.
Tayammum is broken by anything that breaks wudu, and also by finding water you can use. If you did it in place of ghusl, take the ghusl once you can. See What breaks wudu?
- Tayammum replaces wudu or ghusl when water is unavailable or harmful.
- Strike clean earth, then wipe your face and hands.
- Schools differ on one or two strikes and on which surfaces count.
- Finding usable water ends tayammum.
People also ask
Does a wet dream break my fast?
No, a wet dream does not break your fast because it happens in your sleep. Take a ghusl before your next prayer and keep fasting as normal.
Read the full answer →Do I need ghusl after a wet dream?
Yes, you need ghusl after a wet dream if you find sexual fluid, and this applies to women too. No fluid, no ghusl, and a wet dream is never a sin.
Read the full answer →When is ghusl required?
Ghusl is required after intercourse, ejaculation, a wet dream with fluid, and the end of a period or postpartum bleeding. Friday and Eid are sunnah.
Read the full answer →How do I do ghusl?
Ghusl is the full ritual bath: make the intention and wash your whole body. Here's the minimum, the sunnah steps and what women do with braids.
Read the full answer →Does sleeping break wudu?
Yes, deep sleep breaks wudu, but light dozing while seated usually doesn't. Here's how the four schools draw the line, with everyday cases.
Read the full answer →