Islam Guidance

Disrespect of Qur’an and Qur’anic Laws

Disrespect of Qur’an and Qur’anic Laws

In order to conclude whether a particular act is an act of disrespect or not, we should take into consideration the general view held in this matter. Any act of disrespect, verbal, by action or gesture which is commonly understood as disrespect for Qur’an, is therefore Harām. But it is Harām only if the intention of the person is to insult the religion of Islam and the Shari’a of the Chief of the Prophets (S). In other circumstances his action would tantamount to infidelity and he is a renegade. Since disrespect of Qur’an is Harām and it is one of the necessities of faith if one wilfully tramples the Qur’an under his feet, or throws it in Najasat his action is evidently an act of disrespect of religion and denial of respect for Qur’an. In these circumstances this man is an infidel. It is allowed to spill his blood except that he confesses, that it was in a bout of anger and that he was not in his senses.

At this juncture we feel it is necessary to mention important points with regard to the duty of respecting the Qur’an and prohibition of causing disrespect to it.

1-It is Harām to defile or cause disrespect to the cover of Qur’an, its covering, the pages, the letters and the printed matter. It is Harām to make them Najis (impure) and Wajib to make it tahir (pure) if it is causing disrespect to it.

 2-It is Harām to write Qur’an with Najis ink. If it is written with a Najis ink or if after writing it becomes Najis, it should be purified and if it is not possible to purify it, the written part should be obliterated.

 3-It is Harām to hand over Qur’an to a Kafir if he is going to cause disrespect to it or touch the letters. But according to some scholars, however, it is not permitted under any circumstance; if it is given it is Wajib to take it back from him.

 4-If any of the sacred objects like the Qur’an, the pages containing religious inscriptions or names of infallibles, the soil of Karbala etc. accidentally fall in the toilet it is Wajib to remove them and make them tahir, even if their removal incurs lots of expenses. Till the time they are not removed it is Harām to use this toilet. If it is not possible to extract it, the toilet must be permanently sealed so that it can never be used in the future.

 The removal of sacred objects from Najasat and their purification is not Wajib only on the owner or those who have made them Najis, it is Wajib upon all those Muslims who are aware of it. But it is a Wajib al-Kifai, that is if one performs it, others are relieved of their duty. If in spite of all of them being aware of it, none of them performs this duty, all of them shall be held responsible.

 5-It is Harām to touch the letters of the Qur’an without Wuzu (ritual ablution), whether with hands or lips or with any other part of the body. There are detailed laws for this and those who wish to learn more should refer to Urwathul Wuthqa, section of Wuzu, Masla nos. 1-19.

 6-At the conclusion Makasibul Muhrima Shaykh Ansari writes that a group of scholars believe that selling and buying Qur’an is Harām. Their decision is based on a tradition that we cannot narrate here. On the basis of this we should only make intention of buying and selling the covering and paper etc and not ‘the cost of Qur’an’. The buyer should pay the cost with the intention of giving hadiya to the seller.

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