have water brought to him or find any soil. He then prays according to his circumstances, in order to preserve the prescribed time, which is the most important of the conditions of prayer.

The evidence for this is the saying of Allah, Exalted is He: “So fear Allah as much as you are able.” [al-Taghabun 64:16] And the Prophet ﷺ said: “When I command you to do something, do as much of it as you are able.” (1) He ﷺ also said: “Whenever prayer becomes due for any man from my ummah, let him pray.” (2) This is general in scope. From this, we understand the importance of observing the prescribed time, and that among the conditions of prayer, the time is the one most deserving of careful observance.

Dry ablution must be performed with soil …

His statement, “Dry ablution must be performed with soil,” explains what may be used for dry ablution. The author mentioned several conditions for it:

The first is that it must be soil. Soil is well known, and this excludes anything else, such as sand, stones, and the like.

If soil is unavailable—for example, if he is in open land where there is nothing but sand, or nothing but mud due to abundant rainfall—then he prays without performing dry ablution, because he lacks both water and soil. The evidence for this is the Prophet’s ﷺ saying: “Its soil has been made a means of purification for us.” (3) In another narration: “Soil has been made a means of purification for me.” (4)

They said: This specifies the general meaning of the Prophet’s ﷺ saying: “The earth has been made for me …”