Short answer
No, not in the Hanafi school, if water is available. Do ghusl or wudu and pray, even if the time has ended, and it counts as a make-up prayer. The exceptions are the janazah and Eid prayers, which cannot be made up, so tayammum is allowed if you would miss them. The Maliki school allows tayammum to catch the time.
Fear of missing the time of a fard prayer does not permit tayammum when water can be used, because the prayer can be made up. Tayammum is allowed when water is present for a prayer that has no make-up and would be missed: the janazah prayer (for someone other than the wali) and the Eid prayer.
Other madhhabs
- Maliki
- If using water would make you miss the prayer time, make tayammum and pray within the time.
Explanation
Allah allows tayammum when you "find no water" or are ill. Having water but little time is neither. For this reason the Hanafi school says that someone who wakes up in janabah close to sunrise should do ghusl, even if the time for Fajr runs out, and then pray. The prayer is then qada (made up), and it is not a sin if you overslept. The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever sleeps through a prayer or forgets it should pray it when they remember.
Common situations:
- Woke up junub ten minutes before sunrise: do ghusl quickly, then pray Fajr, even after sunrise. Do not pray with tayammum.
- Feeling shy that family will notice a morning ghusl: not an excuse. Find a way, and it is your duty to pray with ghusl.
- At work with no shower: plan ahead. If you truly cannot get to water within about a mile, that is a different case: see how to make tayammum.
- Janazah prayer about to start and you have no wudu: if you are not the deceased's guardian and fear missing it, you may make tayammum and join. See janazah with tayammum.
- Eid prayer: if your wudu breaks during it and you fear missing it while you go to make wudu, tayammum is allowed.
- Jumuah: no tayammum, because if you miss it you pray Zuhr instead.
Delaying ghusl on purpose until a prayer is missed is sinful. If it happens, make up the prayer at once and ask Allah's forgiveness. See how long you can delay ghusl.
The evidence
Quran, Surah An-Nisaa 4:43
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَأَنتُمْ سُكَٰرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَعْلَمُوا۟ مَا تَقُولُونَ وَلَا جُنُبًا إِلَّا عَابِرِى سَبِيلٍ حَتَّىٰ تَغْتَسِلُوا۟ ۚ وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَىٰٓ أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَآءَ أَحَدٌۭ مِّنكُم مِّنَ ٱلْغَآئِطِ أَوْ لَٰمَسْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا۟ مَآءًۭ فَتَيَمَّمُوا۟ صَعِيدًۭا طَيِّبًۭا فَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُمْ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا غَفُورًا ﴿٤٣﴾
O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying or in a state of janabah, except those passing through [a place of prayer], until you have washed [your whole body]. And if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and find no water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and your hands [with it]. Indeed, Allah is ever Pardoning and Forgiving.
Ties tayammum to not finding water or being ill, not to shortage of time.
Sahih Muslim 684
Sahih... من نسي صلاة او نام عنها فكفارتها ان يصليها اذا ذكرها ...
"Whoever forgets a prayer or sleeps through it, its expiation is to pray it when he remembers it."
A missed fard prayer can be made up, so the time running out does not justify tayammum.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharat, chapter on tayammum. Tayammum for fear of missing the janazah or Eid prayer, but not Jumuah or a prayer's time.
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar with Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on tayammum. Fear of the time ending is not an excuse for tayammum in the relied view.
- Mukhtasar Khalil with al-Sharh al-Kabir, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on tayammum. The Maliki view that fear of missing the time permits tayammum.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.