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If the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade istijmar with bones, is it permissible to use them for istijmar when water or paper is unavailable, or is it obligatory to remain in a state of impurity and perform tayammum?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Indeed, the prohibition of using bone and dung for Istinja' (cleaning oneself after relieving oneself) has been established. Some scholars interpreted this prohibition as a matter of dislike (Karahah). If a Muslim is compelled to remove impurities with bone, dung, or their hand, it is permissible for them to do so. They should then rub their hand on the ground until whatever adhered to it is removed. They should then perform Tayammum and pray. If they find water afterwards, they should use it, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Pure earth is the ablution for a Muslim, even if he does not find water for ten years. If he finds water, then let him make it touch his skin."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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