The reason why tayammum is done on just two parts of the body

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah
have mercy on him) said:

The reason why tayammum is
only done on two parts of the body (i.e., the face and arms) is that
this is quite appropriate, based on analogy and common sense. For placing
dust on the head is something that is ordinarily disliked, rather it
is customarily done at times of disaster and calamity, and the feet
are usually in contact with the dust anyway. But putting dust in the
face is an action of humility and veneration of Allaah, submission to
Him and humbling oneself before Allaah, which is one of the most beloved
of acts of worship to Him and one of the most beneficial to the person
himself. Hence it is mustahabb (liked, encouraged) for the one who is
prostrating to get dust on his face for the sake of Allaah, and not
to protect his face from getting dusty. One of the Sahaabah saw a man
prostrating and putting something between his face and the dust, and
he said to him: “Get your face dusty.” This meaning does not apply in
the case of getting the feet dusty.

Moreover, this is appropriate
by analogy in another sense, which is that tayammum applies to the parts
of the body which are washed during wudoo’, but not to the parts which
are merely wiped. For the feet may be wiped when one is wearing socks,
and the head may be wiped when one is wearing a turban. Since the parts
which are usually washed are reduced to wiping (in the case of tayammum),
the parts which are wiped are reduced to nothing, because if we were
to wipe the latter with dust, that would not be a reduction at all,
rather instead of wiping them with water we would just be wiping them
with dust. Thus it becomes clear that what sharee’ah tells us is the
most fair and the most perfect.

The tayammum of the one who
is in a state of junub (major impurity following sexual activity) is
like the tayammum of the one who is in a state of minor impurity. If
the one who is in a state of minor impurity is spared the obligation
of wiping the head and feet with dust, then it is more appropriate that
the one who is in a state of major impurity should be spared the obligation
of rubbing his whole body with dust, because that would involve a great
deal of hardship, and it goes against the idea of tayammum being a dispensation.
It would also reduce the one who is the noblest of Allaah’s creation
to becoming like the animals who rub their bodies in the dust. That
which was brought by sharee’ah cannot be superceded in wisdom and fairness,
and to Allaah be praise.