Rubbing hands and feet with dust (Tayammum)

Abd Allah ibn Yusuf narrated to us: Malik informed us, from Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Qasim, from his father, from Aishah, the wife of the Prophet, who said: We went with the Messenger of Allah on one of his journeys. When we were at al-Bayda—or Dhat al-Jaysh—my necklace broke and was lost. The Messenger of Allah stopped to look for it, and the people stopped with him, though they were not near water and had none with them. The people went to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and said, ‘Do you see what Aishah has done? She has made the Messenger of Allah and the people stop, when they are far from water and have none with them.’ Abu Bakr came while the Messenger of Allah was asleep with his head on my thigh. He said, ‘You have detained the Messenger of Allah and the people, when they are far from water and have none with them.’ Aishah said: Abu Bakr reproached me and said whatever Allah willed him to say, then poked me in the side with his hand. Nothing kept me from moving except that the Messenger of Allah was resting on my thigh. When morning came, the Messenger of Allah rose without water, and Allah revealed the verse of tayammum, so they performed tayammum. Usayd ibn Hudayr said, ‘This is not the first blessing you have brought, O family of Abu Bakr.’ We then made the camel I had been riding stand, and found the necklace beneath it.

Muhammad ibn Sinan narrated to us: Hushaym narrated to us. He said: Sa‘id ibn al-Nadr also narrated to me: Hushaym informed us: Sayyar informed us: Yazid—the Poor—narrated to us: Jabir ibn Abd Allah narrated to us that the Prophet said, ‘I have been granted five things that no one before me was granted: I have been aided by striking fear over a month’s journey; the earth has been made for me a place of prayer and a means of purification, so whenever the time for prayer comes to any man of my community, let him pray; spoils of war have been made lawful for me, though they were not lawful for anyone before me; I have been granted intercession; and every prophet was sent specifically to his own people, whereas I have been sent to all people.’

Zakariyya ibn Yahya narrated to us: Abd Allah ibn Numayr narrated to us: Hisham ibn Urwah narrated to us, from his father, from Aishah, that she borrowed a necklace from Asma, and it was lost. The Messenger of Allah sent a man, who found it. Prayer time came while they had no water, so they prayed. They complained about this to the Messenger of Allah, and Allah revealed the verse of tayammum. Usayd ibn Hudayr said to Aishah, ‘May Allah reward you with good. By Allah, whenever something you dislike has happened to you, Allah has made it a source of good for you and the Muslims.’

Yahya ibn Bukayr narrated to us: Al-Layth narrated to us, from Ja‘far ibn Rabi‘ah, from al-A‘raj, who said: I heard Umayr, the freedman of Ibn Abbas, say: Abd Allah ibn Yasar, the freedman of Maymunah, the wife of the Prophet, and I came to Abu Juhaym ibn al-Harith ibn al-Simmah al-Ansari. Abu Juhaym said: The Prophet was coming from the direction of the well of Jamal when a man met him and greeted him. The Prophet did not return the greeting until he came to a wall, wiped his face and hands, and then returned the greeting.

Adam narrated to us: Shu‘bah narrated to us: al-Hakam narrated to us, from Dharr, from Sa‘id ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abza, from his father, who said: A man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab and said, ‘I have become sexually impure, but I cannot find water.’ Ammar ibn Yasir said to Umar, ‘Do you not remember that you and I were on a journey? You did not pray, while I rolled in the dust and prayed. I mentioned this to the Prophet, and he said, “It would have been enough for you to do this.”’ The Prophet struck the ground with his palms, blew on them, then wiped his face and hands with them.

Hajjaj narrated to us: Shu‘bah informed us: al-Hakam informed me, from Dharr, from Sa‘id ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abza, from his father, who related the same from Ammar. Shu‘bah struck the ground with his hands, brought them near his mouth, then wiped his face and hands. Al-Nadr said: Shu‘bah informed us, from al-Hakam, who said: I heard Dharr say, from Ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abza. Al-Hakam said: I also heard it from Ibn Abd al-Rahman, from his father, who said that Ammar said it.

Sulayman ibn Harb narrated to us: Shu‘bah narrated to us, from al-Hakam, from Dharr, from Ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abza, from his father, who was present with Umar. Ammar said to him: ‘We were on a military expedition and became sexually impure.’ He said: ‘He blew on his hands.’

Muhammad ibn Kathir informed us: Shu‘bah informed us, from al-Hakam, from Dharr, from Ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abza, from Abd al-Rahman, who said: Ammar said to Umar, ‘I rolled in the dust, then came to the Prophet, and he said, “The face and hands are sufficient for you.”’

Muslim narrated to us: Shu‘bah narrated to us, from al-Hakam, from Dharr, from Ibn Abd al-Rahman, from Abd al-Rahman, who said: I was present with Umar, and Ammar said to him. He then related the hadith.

Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us: Ghundar narrated to us: Shu‘bah narrated to us, from al-Hakam, from Dharr, from Ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abza, from his father, who said that Ammar said: The Prophet struck the ground with his hand and wiped his face and hands.

Musaddad narrated to us: Yahya ibn Sa‘id told me: Awf narrated to us: Abu Raja narrated to us, from Imran, who said: We were traveling with the Prophet. We traveled through the night, and toward its end we stopped to sleep; a traveler could not wish for a more pleasant stop. Nothing woke us but the heat of the sun. The first to wake was so-and-so, then so-and-so, then so-and-so—Abu Raja named them, but Awf forgot—and Umar ibn al-Khattab was fourth. When the Prophet slept, he was not woken until he woke on his own, for we did not know what might happen to him in his sleep. When Umar woke and saw what had happened to the people, he was a resolute man. He said the takbir and raised his voice with it, continuing until the Prophet woke at the sound. When he awoke, they complained to him about what had happened. He said, ‘No harm—or it will not harm you. Move on.’ They set out and had not gone far when he stopped, called for water, performed ablution, and the call to prayer was made. He led the people in prayer. When he finished, he saw a man standing apart who had not prayed with the others. He said, ‘What kept you from praying with the people, so-and-so?’ The man replied, ‘I became sexually impure and there is no water.’ He said, ‘Use clean earth; it will suffice you.’ The Prophet then traveled on. The people complained to him of thirst, so he stopped and called for a man—Abu Raja named him, but Awf forgot—and called Ali. He said, ‘Go and look for water.’ They set out and met a woman carrying two water skins—or two small leather vessels—on a camel. They asked her, ‘Where is the water?’ She said, ‘I was at the water at this time yesterday, and our people are away.’ They said, ‘Then come with us.’ She asked, ‘Where to?’ They said, ‘To the Messenger of Allah.’ She said, ‘The one they call the Sabi?’ They said, ‘That is the one you mean; come along.’ They brought her to the Prophet and told him what had happened. He asked her to dismount, then called for a vessel and poured water into it from the openings of the two skins—or vessels. He tied their openings and released their spouts. A call was made among the people: ‘Drink and draw water!’ Whoever wished drank, and whoever wished drew water. Finally, he gave the man who had become sexually impure a vessel of water and said, ‘Go and pour it over yourself.’ The woman stood watching what was done with her water. By Allah, it seemed to us that her water skins were even fuller than when they had first been filled. The Prophet said, ‘Gather something for her.’ They gathered dates, flour, and parched flour until they had collected food for her. They wrapped it in a cloth, loaded it onto her camel, and placed the cloth in front of her. He said to her, ‘Do you know? We have taken none of your water; Allah alone gave us drink.’ She returned to her people, having been delayed. They asked, ‘What kept you, so-and-so?’ She said, ‘What an astonishing thing! Two men met me and took me to this man they call the Sabi. He did such-and-such. By Allah, he is the greatest magician between here and there’—and she raised her middle and index fingers toward the sky, meaning heaven and earth—‘or he is truly the Messenger of Allah.’ Afterward, the Muslims would raid the polytheists around her, but they did not harm the group she belonged to. One day she said to her people, ‘I do not think these people spare you deliberately. Will you accept Islam?’ They obeyed her and entered Islam.

Bishr ibn Khalid narrated to us: Muhammad—Ghundar—narrated to us, from Shu‘bah, from Sulayman, from Abu Wa’il, who said: Abu Musa said to Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud, ‘If someone cannot find water, he does not pray.’ Abd Allah replied, ‘If I were to grant people a concession in this, then whenever one of them felt cold, he would do the same’—meaning perform tayammum and pray. I said, ‘Then what about Ammar’s statement to Umar?’ He said, ‘I did not see Umar satisfied with Ammar’s statement.’

Umar ibn Hafs narrated to us: My father narrated to us: al-A‘mash narrated to us: I heard Shaqiq ibn Salamah say: I was with Abd Allah and Abu Musa. Abu Musa said to him, ‘Abu Abd al-Rahman, what do you think a person should do if he becomes sexually impure and cannot find water?’ Abd Allah replied, ‘He should not pray until he finds water.’ Abu Musa said, ‘What do you make of Ammar’s report that the Prophet told him, “That would have been enough for you”?’ He replied, ‘Did you not see that Umar was not satisfied with that?’ Abu Musa said, ‘Then leave Ammar’s report aside. What do you say about this verse?’ Abd Allah did not know what to say. He then said, ‘If we granted people this concession, soon whenever the water was cold, one of them would leave it and perform tayammum.’ I asked Shaqiq, ‘Was that the reason Abd Allah disliked it?’ He said, ‘Yes.’

Muhammad ibn Salam narrated to us: Abu Mu‘awiyah informed us, from al-A‘mash, from Shaqiq, who said: I was sitting with Abd Allah and Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari. Abu Musa said to him, ‘If a man became sexually impure and could not find water for a month, would he not perform tayammum and pray? What do you say about this verse in Surat al-Ma’idah: “If you find no water, then perform tayammum with clean earth”?’ Abd Allah said, ‘If they were granted this concession, soon whenever the water felt cold to them, they would perform tayammum with earth.’ I said, ‘Is that the reason you disliked it?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ Abu Musa said, ‘Have you not heard Ammar say to Umar, “The Messenger of Allah sent me on an errand, and I became sexually impure but could not find water. I rolled in the earth as an animal does, then told the Prophet about it. He said, ‘It would have been enough for you to do this.’ He struck the ground once with his palm, shook the dust off, wiped the back of one hand with the other—or the back of his left hand with his right—then wiped his face with both hands.”’ Abd Allah said, ‘Did you not see that Umar was not satisfied with Ammar’s statement?’ Ya‘la added, from al-A‘mash, from Shaqiq: I was with Abd Allah and Abu Musa when Abu Musa said, ‘Have you not heard Ammar tell Umar, “The Messenger of Allah sent you and me on an errand. I became sexually impure and rolled in the earth. We came to the Messenger of Allah and told him, and he said, ‘It would have been enough for you to do this,’ then wiped his face and hands once.”’

Abdan narrated to us: Abd Allah informed us: Awf informed us, from Abu Raja, who said: Imran ibn Husayn al-Khuza‘i narrated to us that the Messenger of Allah saw a man standing apart who had not prayed with the people. He said, ‘So-and-so, what kept you from praying with the people?’ The man replied, ‘Messenger of Allah, I became sexually impure and there is no water.’ He said, ‘Use clean earth; it will suffice you.’