Points derived from the ḥadith:

1 – The legitimacy of tayammum (dry ablution) when water is absent or cannot be obtained. Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn said: Whoever withholds from praying by means of tayammum is akin to the Jews and Christians, for tayammum is a concession granted exclusively to the nation of Muhammad ﷺ.

2 – Tayammum is a valid purifier and suffices in place of water for lifting ritual impurity, however long the period may be in which water is unavailable.

3 – It is permissible to perform tayammum on anything that forms the surface of the earth—whatever the kind of soil—and on every pure object resting upon the ground: carpets, felt mats, walls, rocks, and the like. The scholarly disagreement on this will be discussed later, Allah willing.

4 – Tayammum removes the state of impurity; it is not merely a temporary license. The Prophet ﷺ called it ablution (wuḍūʾ). This is the position of many scholars, the school of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, and one of the two reports from Aḥmad, and it accords with analytical reasoning. Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn said: The Qur’an, the Sunnah, and sound reflection all point to this.

5 – When water is found, tayammum becomes invalid. The Muslim must then turn from tayammum to using water for forthcoming acts of worship that require purity, because the presence of water cancels the continuing purity that had been established through earth, as the ḥadith indicates.

6 – The Prophet’s words “for ten years” do not set a maximum duration for tayammum; they merely illustrate an extended span of time.

7 – When the person who has performed tayammum finds water, he must let it reach his skin for the prayers and other acts of worship to come, for Allah has made tayammum a substitute for water, and one departs from it only on the basis of evidence.

8 – Shaykh al-Islām said: Tayammum takes the place of water absolutely, and its effect remains after the prayer time has ended, just as