its alternative, which is clean earth, to be used in the manner clarified by the Prophet ﷺ in his Sunnah. The details of that procedure will be explained, God willing, in its proper section.

This substitution is one of Allah’s kindnesses to His servants and a removal of hardship from them. The Exalted says: “If you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you has relieved himself, or you have had intimate contact with women, and you cannot find water, then perform tayammum with clean earth and wipe your faces and hands with it. Truly Allah is Ever-Pardoning, Ever-Forgiving” (Q 4:43).

Ibn Hubayrah said, “The scholars are unanimously agreed that purification with water is obligatory for anyone upon whom purification is required when water is available; but if water is absent, its substitute is used, in accordance with Allah’s words, ‘and if you do not find water, then perform tayammum with clean earth’ (Q 4:43), and His words, ‘He sends down upon you water from the sky to purify you with it’ (Q 8:11).” End quote.

This underscores the greatness of Islam, a religion of both tangible and spiritual purity, and likewise affirms the greatness of the prayer, for one may not commence it without the two purifications: the spiritual purification from shirk, achieved through tawḥīd and sincere devotion to Allah, and the physical purification from ritual impurity and filth, achieved with water or its lawful substitute.

Know that water which remains in its natural state, unmixed with any other substance, is—by consensus—ṭahūr: pure in itself and purifying. If any of its three characteristics—smell, taste, or color—changes because of contact with an impurity, it becomes impure by unanimous agreement and may not be used. But if one of those characteristics changes through contact with a pure substance, such as leaves from trees