including the elbows. It is not obligatory to work the dust into the roots of the light hair, and—according to the sounder opinion—no particular order is required in transferring it: were he to strike the ground with both hands, wipe his face with the right hand and, with the left, wipe his right arm, the tayammum would be valid. Saying “bismillāh” is recommended, as is wiping the face and the two hands with two separate strikes.

I (al-Nawawī) say: the sound, textually established position is that two strikes are mandatory, even though one strike performed with a cloth or the like could in theory suffice; Allah knows best. He should begin with his right side and with the upper part of the face, shake off excess dust, and keep the actions of tayammum contiguous, just as in wuḍūʾ.

I also say: the same contiguity is required in ghusl. It is recommended to spread the fingers at the outset, and on the second strike it is obligatory to remove any ring; Allah knows best.

Whoever performs tayammum because water is unavailable and then finds some—if he is not in prayer—has his tayammum annulled, unless another excuse, such as personal thirst, remains. If he discovers water while praying a prayer that is not waived by that discovery, the prayer is invalid according to the well-known view; if it is waived, it remains valid. Another opinion holds that in such a case only a voluntary prayer is invalidated. The sounder view, however, is that interrupting the prayer to perform wuḍūʾ is preferable. A person engaged in voluntary prayer should not exceed two rakʿahs unless he intended a specific number, in which case he must complete it. With a single tayammum one may perform only one obligatory prayer, but as many voluntary prayers as one wishes. A vowed prayer is treated like an obligatory one according to the more evident view, and the stronger opinion allows funeral prayers to be combined with an obligatory prayer under the same tayammum.

If someone is unsure which of the five daily prayers he has missed, one tayammum suffices for making up all of them. If he is uncertain about two different prayers, he must perform each with a separate tayammum; if he prefers, he may perform tayammum twice—praying with the first four of the required prayers consecutively, and with the second another four that do not include the one with which he began. If the two missed prayers are of the same type, he must pray all five prayers twice, with two separate tayammums.

One may not perform tayammum for an obligatory prayer before its time has begun; the same ruling, according to the sounder view, applies to a time-bound voluntary prayer. Whoever finds neither water nor earth is obliged, under al-Shāfiʿī’s later position, to perform the obligatory prayer and then repeat it. A resident who resorted to tayammum for lack of water must make up the prayer, whereas a traveller need not—unless his journey is sinful, which is the sounder opinion.

A person who performed tayammum on account of severe cold must repeat the prayer, according to the more apparent view. One who omitted water because of an illness that completely prevents its use, or prevents its use on a particular uncovered limb, does not have to repeat—unless the wound is bleeding profusely. If the wound is bandaged, he need not repeat the prayer on the stronger view, provided the dressing was applied while he was ritually pure; but if it was put on while he was in a state of impurity he must remove it, and, if removal is impossible, he must later repeat the prayer, according to the well-known opinion.