#915: The Ruling Of Placing The Qur’ān On A Prayer Mat

“Assalāmu alaykum wa rahmatu Llaah

Please is it permissible to place the Qur’ān on the Prayer Mat when making Sujūd?”

ANSWER:

Wa Alaykum Salām Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh

Alhamdulillāh.

Know, may Allāh illumine our hearts altogether, that the Ulamā of Islām and the Generality of Muslims have formed a Consensus on the Obligation of respecting the Qur’ān and holding it in high esteem.

Imām An-Nawawī rahimahullāh said:

“The Ulamā have agreed on the Obligation of respecting the Mus’haf and holding it in high regard”

Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalānī Rahimahullāh said:

“The Muslims are in Agreement that whosoever denigrates the Mus’haf such as throwing it into the waste bin or to step over it with his legs by way of desecrating it becomes by so doing a Kāfir whose blood is Halāl”

Refer to Majmū’ Al-Fatāwah.

This should be known, therefore anything that honours the Qur’ān is a recommendation.

As for placing it on the earth, the Ulamā have differed.

The first position is that it is not Permissible and it is Harām. And this is the position favoured by some of the Mālikī and Shāfi’ī Jurists.

Their position is based on the very weak Hadīth that is recorded by Al-Hākim and At-Tirmidhī rahimahumullāh from Umar bn AbdilAzīz who said:

مَرَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِكِتَابٍ في أرض، فقال لشاب من أهل هُذَيْلٍ: مَا هَذَا؟, قَالَ: مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ كَتَبَهُ يَهُودِيٌّ، فَقَالَ: “لَعَنَ اللَّهُ مَنْ فَعَلَ هَذَا, لَا تَضَعُوا كِتَابَ اللَّهِ إِلَّا مَوْضِعَهُ

“Once, the Messenger of Allāh salallāhu Alayhi Wasallam passed by a Book that was places on the earth then he said to a young boy who was from the Hudhayl family: “What is this?” He responded ‘It is from the Book of Allāh, a Writing of a Jew’. Then He (salallāhu Alayhi Wasallam) said: “May Allāh curse the doer of this. Do not place the Book of Allāh except in it’s proper place”

Al-Ulaysh said in his book Fat’hu Al-Aliyyi Al-Māliki Fī Al-Fatwa ‘Alā Madh’habi Al-Imāmi Māliki:

“The Fuqahā have said: placing the Mus’haf on a Pure ground with the intention (by way) of denigrating it is Riddah. It is then known from that that placing it in the same place without the intention of denigrating it is forbidden”

The Second Position, which is that held by majority of the Ulamā is that it is Permissible provided the Place to which it is placed is Pure and not disrespectful.

They argued that the Hadith earlier quoted is weak and lacks a strengthening chain to make it suitable as evidence. And that if it were to be assumed sound, what is apparent from the context is that the Book was thrown to the ground by way of denigrating it. They said: provided the place to which it is placed is Pure and a place of respect. However, they preferred that it be placed on a raised platform if possible as a way of coming out of the Khilāf.

Shaykh Muhammad bn Ibrāhim Āl Ash-Shaykh rahimahullāh said:

“As for placing the Mus’haf on the ground, what is apparent on it is that it is not Harām. Rather, it cannot be regarded as even a Dislike (Karāhah). But probably on the raising of it unto a platform is better because it is a perfection of it’s honour and respect.”

Reference Al-Fatāwah

And Allāh knows best.

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