If it is argued that this evidence is open to the objection that the lā in the phrase “none touch it” is negative rather than prohibitive, since it reads lā yamassuhu rather than lā yamassahu? …..
The answer is that a declarative statement may be intended as a command. Indeed, a statement intended as a command is more emphatic than a direct command, because it portrays the matter as though it has already been carried out. An example is the saying of Allah Most High:
“And those of you who die and leave wives behind: they shall wait by themselves for four months and ten days.” [al-Baqarah: 234]
His words, “they shall wait,” are declarative in form but convey a command. Similarly, the sunnah states, “A man must not sell over his brother’s sale,” (1) in declarative form, though what is intended is a prohibition.
- What occurs in the letter of Amr ibn Hazm, which the Prophet ﷺ wrote to the people of Yemen, including the words: “…none should touch the Quran except one who is pure…” (2)
The one who is pure is the person who has purified himself physically from ritual impurity through ablution or the ritual bath. For the believer possesses complete spiritual purity, and the muṣḥaf is generally touched only by believers. Thus, when he said, “except one who is pure,” it is understood that this refers to a purity other than spiritual purity; rather, what is intended is purification from ritual impurity. This is further indicated by His words