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Fatwa CenterFinding water after making Tayammum for major impurity
Question
Assalamu alaikum I read that if we do tayammum and sees water our wudhu is broken. 1. So if we pass again and the time for prayer comes and we didnt see water shldnt we perform again tayammum? 2. Whats the case of one who purified from major impurity by tayammum. Does he have to do ghusl again when he sees water? 3. If a person who's travelling etc and doesnt find water or soil for tayammum or a pralysed who doesnt have any to help and time of prayer comes and they are in state of major or minor impurity, I read that they should pray in that state of impurity. My question is can we imagine of bathing or doing wudhu and pray then ? Or should he just pray straight away .Does we have to do ghusl again after we sees water in this case?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His Slave and Messenger.
If the water is seen before the prayer is started, then this invalidates Tayammum (dry ablution) according to the agreement of the jurists. But if the water is seen during the prayer, the jurists disagreed about it and some have differentiated between the case of travelers and that of non-travelers.
Your statement (if we pass again and the time for prayer comes....etc.), then if you are asking about the water that you left behind, then the answer is that if you are able to carry the water with you for Wudhoo' (ablution) then you should take it with you, and if you did not do so, then you should return to the place of water when you wish to perform Wudhoo'. If it is difficult for you to go back and you did not find water after searching for it, then you may perform Tayammum.
According to Ar-Rawdh (a Hanbali book): “If someone goes out for cultivating his land or collecting firewood or the like, and he cannot carry the water with him and he cannot come back (to the place of water) for Wudhoo' without missing out on his need, then he may perform Tayammum and he does not have to repeat the prayer.”
On the other hand, if a person is in a state of major impurity and he performed Tayammum and then he found water, then he is obliged to perform Ghusl in order to remove the state of major impurity and become ritually pure, as he did not become completely ritually pure by Tayammum. In a Hadeeth, ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas said: “I had a wet dream on a cold night during the campaign of Thaat As-Salaasil, and I feared that if I did Ghusl I might die. So I did Tayammum and I led my companions in Fajr prayer, and then in the morning they mentioned that to the Prophet . Thereupon, the Prophet told me, ‘O ‘Amr, you led your companions in prayer while you were Junub (in a state of major impurity)?’ I told him what had kept me from performing Ghusl and I said, ‘I heard that Allaah says (what means): “And do not kill yourselves. Surely, Allaah is Most Merciful to you” [Quran 4:29].” Thereupon the Prophet smiled and did not say anything.” The evidence from this Hadeeth is the saying of the Prophet “you led your companions in prayer while you were Junub”; as this confirmed that his state of major impurity was not removed by Tayammum.
Regarding your question about the traveler if he did not find water or soil ... does he have to imagine that he is performing Ghusl?, then the answer is no, as the Sharee’ah did not order us to imagine this, but the person should pray at the time of the prayer without Wudhoo' or Tayammum, and it is better for him to repeat the prayer when he finds water or soil in order to act safely in cases of scholarly disagreement.
For more benefit on the prayer of someone who can neither perform Wudhoo' nor Tayammum, please refer to Fatwa 86380.
Allaah Knows best.
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