Is dry ablution a remover of ritual impurity, or does it merely permit that for which purification is required? There is a difference of opinion on this matter.
Some scholars held that it removes ritual impurity. (1)
Others held that it merely permits that for which purification is required. (700)
The correct view is the first:
-
Allah Most High says, after mentioning dry ablution: “Allah does not intend to impose hardship upon you, but He intends to purify you.” [al-Ma'idah 5:6]
-
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The earth has been made for me a place of prayer and a means of purification.” (2) Tahūr, with the vowel a, means that by which one purifies oneself.
-
It is a substitute for purification with water, and the legal principle is that a substitute takes the same ruling as that which it replaces. Thus, just as purification with water removes ritual impurity, so too does purification by dry ablution.
A number of issues follow from this difference of opinion, including:
A. If we hold that it merely permits, and a person intends dry ablution for a particular act of worship, he may not thereby perform an act that ranks above it. Thus, if he performs dry ablution for a voluntary prayer, he may not pray an obligatory prayer with it, because the obligatory prayer ranks higher.