sanctioned by Islamic law. This and similar practices go too far in requiring a prescribed order where Allah and His Messenger have not required it. Those who deny that this order is obligatory allow it to be reversed without an excuse. The best course is the middle one, and Allah’s religion lies between excess and neglect. And Allah knows best.

He was asked:

Does tayammum take the place of ablution in the matters mentioned, or not?

He answered:

Tayammum takes the place of purification with water. Whatever otherwise prohibited acts become permissible through ritual bathing and ablution also become permissible through tayammum.

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was also asked:

A man is in a state of major ritual impurity while in an orchard. He has only cold water available and fears that using it will harm him. The bathhouse is so far away that, by the time he reaches it and bathes, the prayer time will have ended. If he performs tayammum for his major ritual impurity, performs ablution, and prays within the prescribed time, must he repeat the prayer? Does he incur sin by doing so? Or does he incur sin if he performs tayammum? Does tayammum take the place of water, such that he may perform tayammum for a voluntary prayer and then offer an obligatory prayer with it, or offer two obligatory prayers at two different times with a single tayammum?