Back to search

What is the ruling on a ritually impure young man performing tayammum for ghusl and wudu for prayer due to a wound in his leg?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Whoever is in a state of janabah (major ritual impurity) and washing would harm their wound must wash the sound parts of their body and wipe over the wound. If wiping would harm it, they should place a splint over it and wipe over the splint, then wash the rest of their body. If the wound heals, they should remove the splint and wash the area of the wound. Tayammum (dry ablution) is not permissible as long as they are able to use water.

If one is unable to perform ghusl due to fear of harm, the alternative is tayammum, not wudu (minor ablution). If one can use water for the entire body except for the wound, they should wash the sound parts and perform tayammum for the injured part.

Tayammum is only permissible when one is unable to use water, either due to its unavailability or certain harm from its use. Therefore, whoever performs tayammum while able to use water, their prayer is invalid and must be made up.

If their recourse to tayammum was legitimate due to fear of using water, there is no need for make-up prayers. However, if they were able to perform ghusl and wipe, or wash the sound parts and perform tayammum for the injured part, then they must make up their prayers.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy