Al-Khaṭṭābī said, “A number of scholars hold that tayammum is accomplished with a single strike of the earth for the face and the palms, and this opinion is the soundest according to the transmitted reports.”

Points derived from the ḥadith

1. Tayammum is a substitute for the ritual bath required after major impurity.
2. One must search for water before performing tayammum.
3. The manner of tayammum is to strike the ground once, then wipe the face and the hands up to the elbows, ensuring full coverage. Ibn Rushd commented that applying the word “hand” to the palm alone is clearer than applying it to the palm and forearm.
4. Al-Ṣanʿānī observed that the conjunction in the various narrations of this ḥadith appears with wa (“and”), which merely links, and with fa and thumma (“then”), which signify sequence. Sequence is an additional detail, and a fair addition from a reliable narrator is accepted; therefore, the combined wording found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs should be understood as implying sequence. Nothing has been reported from the Prophet ﷺ—by word or deed—about wiping the hands before the face.
5. Tayammum for major impurity follows the same procedure and rulings as tayammum for minor impurity.
6. The legitimacy of ijtihād in matters of worship is affirmed.
7. If a mujtahid’s reasoning leads him to an incorrect ruling and he performs the act of worship accordingly, he is not required to repeat it once the correct ruling becomes clear to him.

The five distinctions granted exclusively to the Prophet ﷺ
Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“I have been given five things that no prophet before me was given:
(1) I have been aided by awe that travels a month’s distance ahead of me;
(2) the earth has been made a mosque and a means of purification for me, so whenever the time of prayer comes upon any man of my community, let him pray;
(3) the spoils of war have been made lawful for me, whereas they were not lawful for anyone before me;
(4) I have been granted intercession;
(5) every prophet was sent only to his own people,(1) but I have been sent to all of humankind.”