بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
A summary
Imām Al-Albānī was asked:
**Questioner:** Is it correct that a menstruating woman and a person in a state of major ritual impurity (janābah) can touch the Qur’ān or to read (from) it for worship or memorisation?
**Sheikh:** No, we do not find in the Book (Qur’ān) nor in the Sunnah anything that supports the prohibition for menstruating women and the one in a state of major ritual impurity from touching the Quran or reciting it.
Rather, we may find in the established principles and fundamentals what supports the opposite, which is that it is permissible. This is because one of the principles upon which many branches are built is their saying: “The default ruling for things is permissibility.” So here we have touching the Qur’ān and here we have reading from the Qur’ān, and the default ruling for both matters is permissibility. Therefore, we should not depart from this principle except with evidence… from the Book or from the authentic Sunnah.
There is absolutely nothing in the Book nor in the Sunnah that prohibits a person in a state of ritual impurity from touching the Qur’ān or reciting it, and the same applies to menstruating women.
(Exerpt from Shaykh Al-Albānī’s fatāwā:https://alathar.net/home/esound/index.php?op=codevi&coid=158339)
Discussion of the evidence used by those who prohibit the junub/menstruating woman from touching the Qur’ān
The Prophet (ﷺ) wrote a letter to the people of Yemen which contained:
أَلَا يَمَسَّ الْقُرْآنَ إِلَّا طَاهِرُ
“None should touch the Qur’ān except one who is Tāhir (pure)” (Muwattā 680, Al-Dāraqutnī 5, authenticated by Al-Albānī in Irwā 221)
Imām al-Shawkānī said:
The hadīth indicates that it is not permissible to touch the Mushaf except for one who is pure (tāhir).
However, the term tāhir (pure) is used in multiple senses: for a believer, for one who is free from major and minor ritual impurity, and for one who has no physical impurity on their body.
For the first meaning, there is Allāh’s statement:
إِنَّمَا الْمُشْرِكُونَ نَجَسٌ
“Indeed, the polytheists are najas (impure)” [Al-Tawbah: 28]
and his (ﷺ) saying to Abū Hurayrah:
المؤمن لا ينجس
“The believer does not become impure.”
For the second meaning:
وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُبًا فَأَطَهَرُوا
“And if you are in a state of janābah (major ritual impurity), then purify yourselves” [Al-Ma’idah: 6].
For the third meaning: his (ﷺ) statement regarding wiping over khuffs (leather socks):
دعهما فإني أدخلتهما طاهرتين
“Leave them, for I put them on while I was in a state of purity.”
And for the fourth meaning: the consensus that something without physical or ritual impurity is called pure.
This term [i.e. pure] has been used in many contexts… What seems most correct is that such a term is ambiguous and cannot be acted upon until (it’s meaning) clarified. (Abridged, Nayl al-Awtār 1/332-333)
Imām al-Shawkānī said:
Those who prohibit the one in (a state of) janābah from touching the Mushaf cite Allāh’s words:
لَا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ
“None touch it except the purified ones” [Al-Waqi’ah: 79].
This is valid only if the pronoun [i.e. “it] refers to the Qur’ān, but what’s apparent is that it refers to “the Book” meaning the Preserved Tablet, as it is closer (in context), and “the purified ones” are the angels…
Even if we accepted that it refers specifically to the Qur’ān, its indication of the intended ruling/meaning —prohibiting one with janābah from touching it—is not conclusive, because “the purified” refers to one who is not impure, and a believer is never impure according to the hadīth: “The believer does not become impure,” which is agreed upon. So it’s not valid to interpret “the purified” as someone who is not in a state of janābah, menstruation, minor impurity, or physical impurity. Rather, it must be interpreted as one who is not a polytheist, as in Allāh’s statement: “Indeed, the polytheists are impure.”
[further clarification omitted]… When you understand this, you will know that there is no strong evidence to prevent anyone other than polytheists from touching the Qur’ān.
(Abridged, Nayl al-Awtār 1/333-334)
Imām, Shaykh al-Islām ibn Taymiyyah said in explanation of the above verse:
… The correct view is that the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūdh) in heaven is intended by this verse, and likewise the angels are intended by His saying “the purified ones” (al-mutahharūn) for several reasons:
- This is the interpretation of the majority of the predecessors (salaf) from among the Companions and those after them.
- He informed that the entire Qur’ān is in a Book, but when this verse was revealed, only some of the Meccan portions had been revealed, and the entire Qur’ān was not compiled into a Mushaf until after the Prophet’s death (ﷺ).
- He said: “In a Book well-protected” [Al-Waqi’ah: 78]. “Well-protected” (maknūn) means safeguarded and secured, which cannot be reached by the hands of the misguiding ones. This is a description of the Preserved Tablet.
- His saying: “None touch it except the purified ones” is a description of the Book and not a command.
- If the meaning of the statement were a command, it would have said “So let none touch it” to connect the command with what preceded it.
- He said “the purified ones” (al-mutahharūn), which implies that their purification comes from someone else. If the purity of Banī Ādam (i.e. humans) was intended, it would have said “those who purify themselves” (al-mutatahhirūn), as in Allāh’s saying: “Within it are men who love to purify themselves; and Allāh loves those who purify themselves [al-muttahhirīn]” [Al-Tawbah: 108], and His saying: “Indeed, Allāh loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves [al-mutatahhirīn” [Al-Baqarah: 222].
(Slightly summarised, Sharh al-‘Umdah 1/418-420)
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