Advice of Scholars - RESPECTING THE QUR’ÂN AL-KERÎM

In al-Halabî as-saghîr, a few lines above the section on sajdat at-tilâwa, it is written: “It is a sin to write the Qur’ân al-kerîm in an illegibly small script or to get or own such small-sized copies of Qur’ân al-kerîm.” Allâhu ta’âlâ sent the Qur’ân al-kerîm to be recited, read, listened to and its contents to be learnt and obeyed. It is an insult to the Qur’ân al-kerîm to write it in an illegibly small script. Khalîfa ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ punished a man who wrote an illegibly small copy of the Qur’ân al-kerîm. Buying such Mus’hafs, carrying them in small golden boxes attached to a string around the neck, as Christians do with their icons or crosses, is useless and very sinful.

It is written in al-Halabî that it is tahrîmî makrûh to write âyats or names of Allâhu ta’âlâ’ [and also a picture of the Ka’ba] on things spread on the ground or on praying mats (sajjada). It is written in Tahtâwî’s annotation to Imdâd that it is makrûh to write such sacred words on coins or paper bills. The exalted ’âlim as-Sayyid ’Abd al Hakîm Arwâsî ‘quddisa sirruh’ states in one of his letters that during the time of the Sahâbât al-kirâm and the Tâbi’în ’izâm ‘’alaihim ar-ridwân’ no sacred word was written on money. The reason for this is that money is used in buying and selling, and, therefore, it is not treated with respect. It is permissible to print pictures on it. The non-Sunnite governments, for example, Fâtimîs and the Rasûlîs, who belonged to the Mu’tazila and who bore the name Muslim but who in reality did not obey Islam, had âyats and hadîths printed on money. This was one of the tricks they played to deceive the people and hide in a Muslim guise. The ’ulamâ’ of Islam [that is, the Fuqahâ-yî ’izâm] did not permit writing blessed words even on grave-stones, let alone money. It is written in Al-fatâwâ al-Hindiyya that it is makrûh to touch such money without an ablution.