Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (1/322)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

The sound position in the Shafi‘i school is that he is not required to perform wudu, nor is his guardian required to compel him to do so, because he is not legally accountable.

Moreover, requiring his guardian to compel him to do so would entail hardship, while it is not obligatory upon him. When there is hardship in a matter that is not obligatory for a child, his guardian is not to compel him to observe it.

The well-known position in the Hanbali school is that a child may not touch the Quran without wudu, and that his guardian must require him to perform it, just as he requires him to perform wudu for prayer (2), because it is an act whose permissibility is contingent upon ritual purity; thus, his guardian must require him to observe it.

They made an exception for a writing tablet: a child may touch it, so long as his hand does not fall upon the letters (3). Some of them explained this on the grounds of hardship (4), while others explained that this writing is not like that in the mushaf (585), for what is written in the mushaf is intended to remain fixed and permanent, whereas this is not ...

If you were to write Quranic text in reverse and place it before a mirror, it would appear in the mirror as Quranic text that is not reversed. Yet it is not forbidden to touch the mirror, because the Quran was not written upon it.

The apparent meaning of the jurists’ words is that it is not permissible to touch a fixed blackboard (5) without wudu if a verse has been written on it. However, one may write the Quran upon it without wudu, so long as one does not touch it. It may be said that this apparent meaning is not intended.

(1) See al-Insaf, 2/73. (2) See al-Insaf, 2/73. (3) See al-Insaf, 2/73. (4) See al-Mughni, 1/204; al-Majmu Sharh al-Muhadhdhab, 2/70. (5) Sabburah: a large board hung in front of an audience, on which one writes and erases. Al-Mujam al-Arabi al-Asasi, p. 604.

الصَّحيح عند الشَّافعية: أنه لا يلزمه الوُضُوء، ولا يَلزم وليَّه أن يُلزِمه به (١)؛ لأنه غير مكلَّف. ولأن إِلزام وليِّه به فيه مَشَقَّة وهو غير واجب عليه، وإِذا كان فيه مشقَّة في أمر لا يجب على الصَّغير، فإِنه لا يُلزِمه به وَلِيُّه. والمشهور عند الحنابلة: أنه لا يجوز للصَّغير أن يَمَسَّ القرآن بلا وُضُوء، على وليِّه أن يُلزِمه به كما يلزمه بالوُضُوء للصَّلاة (٢)، لأنه فعل تُشترط لحِلِّه الطَّهارة، فلا بُدَّ من إِلزام وليِّه به. واستثنوا اللوح، فيجوز للصَّغير أن يَمَسَّه ما لَمْ تقع يدهُ على الحروف (٣). وعَلَّلَ بعضُهم ذلك بالمشقَّة (٤)، وعَلَّلَ آخرون بأنَّ هذه الكتابة ليست كالتي في المصحف (٥٨٥)، لأن التي في المصحف تُكْتَبُ للثُّبوت والاستمرار، أمَّا هذه فلا ..... ولو كَتَبْتَ قرآناً معكوساً ووضعتَه أمام المرآة، فإنه يكون قرآناً غير معكوس، ولا يَحْرُم مس المرآة، لأن القرآن لم يُكتبْ فيها. وظاهِرُ كلام الفُقَهاء ﵏: أنه لا يجوز مَسُّ «السُّبُّورة» (٥) الثَّابتة بلا وُضُوء إِذا كُتِبَتْ فيها آية، لكن يجوز أن تَكتبَ القرآن بلا وُضُوء ما لم تمسَّها. وقد يُقال: إِن هذا الظَّاهر

(١) انظر: «الإِنصاف» (٢/ ٧٣). (٢) انظر: «الإِنصاف» (٢/ ٧٣). (٣) انظر: «الإِنصاف» (٢/ ٧٣). (٤) انظر: «المغني» (١/ ٢٠٤)، «المجموع شرح المهذب» (٢/ ٧٠). (٥) السُّبُّورة: لوح كبير يُعلَّق أمام جمهور من الناس، يُكتب عليه ويُمحى. «المعجم العربي الأساسي» ص (٦٠٤).