In Sahīh Muslim, Abū Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“I have been favored over the prophets in six ways: I have been granted concise speech rich in meaning; I have been aided by fear cast into the enemy; spoils of war have been made lawful for me; the earth has been made for me a place of prayer and a means of purification; I have been sent to all creation; and I have been made the seal of the prophets.”

Muslim also reported from Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“I have been favored over other people in three ways: our rows have been made like the rows of the angels; the whole earth has been made for us a place of prayer; and its soil has been made for us a means of purification when we cannot find water.”

‘Amr ibn Shu‘ayb reported from his father, from his grandfather, who said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The earth has been made for me a place of prayer and a means of purification. Wherever the time for prayer comes upon me, I perform tayammum and pray. Those before me regarded that as a grave matter; they prayed only in their churches and synagogues.”

Allah Most High’s words, “Then seek clean earth,” contain an indefinite noun in an affirmative context, as do His words:

“Allah commands you to slaughter a cow,”

“Then the freeing of a slave,”

“Then fasting three days during Hajj and seven when you return,”

and:

“Whoever cannot find the means must fast three days.”

Such expressions are termed unrestricted. They convey general applicability by way of alternatives, not collective inclusion. This indicates that one may perform tayammum with whatever clean earth happens to be available. Here, “clean” means ritually pure. Dust that can be stirred up is, by consensus, included in what the text denotes. As for anything else, there is disagreement, which we shall discuss, if Allah Most High wills.