Is it permissible to perform tayammum due to the distance of water if going to fetch it would lead to missing congregational prayer, or missing the prescribed prayer time?

If water is near and obtainable, a Muslim must seek it for purification, even if it means missing congregational prayer, because purification is a condition for the validity of prayer. However, if water is far away, one is not obligated to go after it; rather, one should perform tayammum (definition). If water is near, but seeking and using it would cause the prayer time to expire, the preponderant opinion is to perform tayammum, based on Allah's saying: "Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a time-bound ordinance." In this case, preserving the prayer's time takes precedence.