Can I read the Qur'an on my phone without wudu?
The question as asked, details removedIs it allowed to read the Qur'an from a phone app without wudu, and to touch the screen?More
This is a sample answer written to show how the site works. It follows the standard Hanafi books, but no mufti has reviewed or signed it yet, so it is not a fatwa. For a real answer, ask a question. Ask a mufti
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِكِ الْوَهَّابِ اَللّٰهُمَّ هِدَايَةَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
1Short answer
Reading from the screen without wudu is allowed, as long as you do not touch the part of the screen where the verses are showing. Touching the rest of the phone is fine. In janabah or menstruation, reciting is not allowed at all.
2Detailed answer
While the Qur'an is displayed on the screen, the screen takes the ruling of the written page in the matter of touching. So:
- Without wudu: you may read by looking at the screen and recite, but do not touch the area of the screen where the verses are displayed. Scroll by touching a blank margin or the phone's frame, or use a stylus.
- Touching the phone's body, case and the screen when the Qur'an is not displayed is allowed without wudu.
- In janabah, menstruation or post-natal bleeding, reciting the Qur'an is not allowed even from a phone; listening to recitation is allowed.
- Taking a phone that has a Qur'an app into the toilet is allowed if the Qur'an is not open on the screen; it is better to keep it in a pocket.
3Evidence and sources
- Qur'an, Al-Waqi'ah 56:79
- Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik, Book of the Qur'an
- Bahar-e-Shariat, chapter on ghusl
Arabic texts, translations and how the ruling was derived
لا يمسه إلا المطهرون
Meaning: None touches it except the purified.
The verse and the hadith "none should touch the Qur'an except one who is pure" require purity for touching the written Qur'an. Contemporary scholars of Ahl-e-Sunnat treat the glass over displayed verses with caution, as the place where the text is shown, while reading without touching follows the ruling of reciting from memory.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَرَسُوْلُهُ أَعْلَمُ صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ