Allah’s preservation of the Sacred Law. Were it not for these distinguished scholars, who derived from the Book of Allah Most High and the sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ the detailed rulings they did, many of these subsidiary issues would have been lost to us.
It is forbidden for one in a state of ritual impurity to touch the muṣḥaf, ………
His statement: “It is forbidden for one in a state of ritual impurity to touch the muṣḥaf.” The muṣḥaf is anything in which the Quran is written, whether complete or incomplete—even if it is only a single verse written on a sheet of paper with nothing else on it; its ruling is that of a muṣḥaf.
Likewise, a writing tablet carries the ruling of a muṣḥaf, except in certain cases that the jurists have excluded.
His statement, “one in a state of ritual impurity,” means either minor or major ritual impurity, because the definite article in “the person in ritual impurity” has the force of a relative pronoun, and thus includes both minor and major impurity.
Ritual impurity is a state pertaining to the body which prevents one from performing prayer and similar acts for which purification is a condition.
The evidence for this is:
- Allah Most High says:
“It is indeed a noble Quran, in a well-guarded Book, which none touch except the purified, a revelation from the Lord of all worlds.” [al-Wāqiʿah]
The manner in which this indicates the ruling is that the pronoun in His words, “which none touch,” refers to the Quran, since these verses are speaking about it, as demonstrated by His words: “a revelation from the Lord of all worlds.” [al-Wāqiʿah] What was sent down is this Quran. The purified person is the one who has performed ablution and the ritual bath after major impurity, as indicated by His words: “But He intends to purify you.” [al-Māʾidah: 6] (1)