Step 4 of 7
Intention
Before you strike the earth, intend in your heart that you are making tayammum so that the prayer becomes permitted for you, in place of wudu, or in place of ghusl if you are in the major state of impurity.
As with wudu, the intention is a decision of the heart and needs no words. The Prophet ﷺ said that deeds are only by their intentions, and that each person has what he intended.
The four schools agree that tayammum is not valid without an intention. Even the Hanafi school, which does not make the intention a condition of wudu, requires it here, because tayammum literally means aiming for something, and wiping with earth is not purification in itself.
All four schools agree on this step.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Qur'an 5:6
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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