Some Questions on Ablution There are many a times in one's daily life when one is working at a place where there is either no water or the water is not useable (as thought by oneself) for the purposes of ablusion. What should one do in such circumstances? Another related problem is that when one is wearing normally used leather footwear which is spoiled by water and one does not have slippers, should one omit the washing of feet part of ablution? Please reply as soon as possible as this is a very common problem with me and it sometimes lead to the ommission of prayers. Reply The Quran has clearly allowed us to resort to Tayammum, in place of wuzu, under three situations: Firstly, when a person is unwell due to which applying water on the body could be harmful in any way; secondly, when a person is on a journey and the comforts of living in ones own house are not available; and thirdly, when clean water is difficult to access. In all these three situations, the Quran allows tayammum, in place of wuzu. Tayammum is a symbolic representation of wuzu. For the allowance and method of tayammum please refer to Al-Maidah 5: 6. The Prophet (pbuh) has allowed us to resort to masah on socks or stockings, in place of washing our feet, if we wear socks or stockings while in a state of ablution. Masah is a symbolic representation of washing our feet during ablution. Thus, if it is difficult for you to take of your shoes and socks for ablution, you may take advantage of the allowance given by the Prophet (pbuh) and just rub your feet with slightly wet hands. It should be remembered that such an allowance can only be benefitted from if you have worn your socks or stockings while in a state of ablution. I hope this helps. Regards The Learner