Only One Who Is Pure May Touch The Qur'an

Question :

What is the ruling regarding touching the Mushaf without having ablution, for the purpose of reading it or moving it to another place? My question is regarding someone who is not in a major state of impurity.

Answer:

According to the majority of scholars, touching the Mushaf while not having ablution is not allowed. This is the opinion of all Four Imams, may Allah have mercy upon them, and it is this opinion that the Prophet's Companions used to rule by. There is even an authentic Hadith regarding this; in it, 'Amr bin Hazm, may Allah be pleased with him, relates that the Prophet ﷺ sent a letter to the people of Yemen, saying that:
"None touches the Qur'an except the pure."

This Hadith is good in terms of authenticity; it has many chains of narration, and each one strengthens the other.

The same ruling applies to moving the Mushaf from one place to another: only someone who is pure may do so. However, if the Mushaf is in a bag or jacket, for example, one may carry it, as long as his hands do not touch it directly. If one is in a minor state of impurity, one may recite the Qur'an from memory or recite it while someone else is holding it. A person who is in a major state of impurity may not recite the Qur'an, because nothing would prevent the Prophet ﷺ from the Qur'an except for Janabah (major state of impurity, i.e., after performing sexual intercourse). Ahmad recorded a good chain of narration to 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, who said that after the Prophet ﷺ relieved himself, he recited something from the Qur'an, and then said:
"This is for someone who is not Junub (in a major state of impurity); as for the Junub, then no, not even a single verse."

The point here is that the Junuh person is neither permitted to touch nor to recite from the Mushaf until he performs Ghusl, in which case he is no longer Junub.

There is another issue that is related: whether it is permissible for a woman to touch the Qur'an when she is in menses or is going through post-natal bleeding. Scholars disagree in this issue: some say that she may not read while others say that she can read from memory without touching the Qur'an. Those that hold the latter opinion argue that menses and post-natal bleeding occur for long periods of time, whereas the person in a major state of impurity only has to perform Ghusl, and then he can recite.

What is correct is that it does not prevent them from reciting from memory, and this is the preferred view since it is confirmed in the Two Sahihs that the Prophet ﷺ said to 'A'ishah, who was menstruating during Hajj:

"Do what a pilgrim does, except that you may not go around the House (i.e., the Ka'bah) until you become purified."

So even though the pilgrim recites Qur'an, the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ did not make an exception like he did for going around the Ka'bah. This indicates the permissibility for a woman to recite when she is menstruating or when she is going through post-natal bleeding.

The Prophet ﷺ said similarly to Asma' bint 'Umays when she gave birth to Muhammad bin Abu Bakr at the Migat during the farewell pilgrimage, this all proves that she may recite it without touching the Mushaf.

As for the Hadith of Ibn 'Umar that the Prophet ﷺ said:
"Neither the menstruating nor the Junub may recite anything from the Qur'an."

This Hadith is weak, because in its chain Ibn 'Ayyash is narrating from Musa bin 'Uqbah. The scholars of Hadith have graded Ibn 'Ayyash's narrations weak, saying that they are good. if he is narrating from the people of Ash-Sham, which is his homeland, but they are weak when narrating from the people of Al-Hijaz, and this is one of his narrations from the people of Al- Hijaz, so it is weak.