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English translation
569. It was narrated from Sa'eed bin 'Abdur-Rahmān bin Abza from his father, that a man came to 'Umar bin Khattāb and said: "I became impure following sexual emission and cannot find any water." 'Umar said to him: "Do not pray." But 'Ammār bin Yāsir said, "Do you not remember, O Commander of the Believers, when you and I were on a military expedition and we became sexually impure and could not find water? As for you, you did not pray, but I rolled in the dust and then prayed. When I came to the Prophet ﷺ and told him what had happened, he said: 'It would have been enough for you (to do this).' (Then demonstrating) the Prophet ﷺ struck the ground with his hands, then blew on them, and wiped his face and palms with them." (Sahih)
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Commentary
This shows the correct way to perform the dry ablution. It is like this: Strike your hands on a piece of pure ground, then blow the dust off. After that,
pass the hands over the face and, finally, wipe one hand with the other. This completes the dry ablution. You do not have to wipe your arms and feet. Neither do you have to wipe your head and ears.
b. Dry ablution thus done is as good a substitute for a bath as it is for ablution. There is no need to soil your entire body with earth to secure purity from sexual impurity.
c. The rationale behind blowing off the hands after striking the ground with them is to shake off the extra dust. The idea is simply to comply with an order, not to cover the body with dust.
