Narrated ‘Ammar said that a man came to ‘Umar b. al-Khatt&b, telling that he was affected by seminal defilement and could get no water.
‘Ammar then said to ‘Umar:
Do you not remember that you and I were on a journey and you did not pray, but I rolled myself on the ground, then prayed? I mentioned that afterwards to the Prophet, and he said,“It would have been enough for you to do thus”—and the Prophet struck the ground with the palms of his hands, blew into them, then wiped his face and the palms of his hands with them.
Bukhari transmitted it, and Muslim has something similar, in which he said, “It is enough for you to strike the ground with your hands, then blow, then wipe your face and the palms of your hands with them.”
وَعَن عمرَان بن حُصَيْن الْخُزَاعِيِّ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: رأى رجلا مُعْتَزِلا لم يصل فِي الْقَوْم فَقَالَ: «يَا فلَان مَا مَنعك أَن تصلي فِي الْقَوْم فَقَالَ يَا رَسُول الله أَصَابَتْنِي جَنَابَةٌ وَلَا مَاءَ قَالَ عَلَيْكَ بِالصَّعِيدِ فَإِنَّهُ يَكْفِيك»
Narrated ‘Imran said:
While we were on a journey with the Prophet he led the people in the prayer, and when he turned away after the prayer he saw a man apart who had not prayed along with the people. He asked him what had prevented him from praying along with the company, and when the man replied that he was affected by
seminal defilement and had no water, he said, “Make use of earth, for it is enough for you.”
Abul Juhaim b. al-Harith b. as-Simma said, “I came upon the Prophet when he was passing water and saluted him, but he did not reply till he got up and went to a wall, and after scraping it with a stick which he had, he put his hands on the wall and wiped his face and his forearms; then he replied to my salutation.”
I have not found this version in the two Sahihs, or in al-Humaidi’s book; but Baghawi mentioned it in Sharh as-sunna, saying that this is a hasan tradition.
Narrated Hudhaifa reported God’s messenger as saying, “We have been made superior to mankind in three respects:
our ranks are formed like those of the angels; all the earth has been appointed as a mosque for us; and our earth has been appointed for us as a means of cleansing when we do not find water.”