Among the matters forbidden to a person in a state of major ritual impurity (janābah):

His statement: “ …nor is there any objection to touching something that merely contains Qur’anic verses—such as personal letters, books of exegesis, jurisprudence, and the like—for these are not called a muṣḥaf and therefore do not enjoy its sanctity.”

I say: This answer is built on the assumption that it is unlawful for the person in janābah to touch a muṣḥaf. The author, however, offers no proof for that here. He did allude, in the chapter “Cases that require minor ablution,” to the Prophet’s words, “Only the pure may touch the Qur’ān,” yet he also admitted there that the term ṭāhir (“pure”) is ambiguous and can bear several meanings, and that one must determine its intent by a clarifying context. He then applied it—without any supporting indication—to exclude only those in janābah. We have already rebutted him sufficiently in that section, clarified what the ḥadīth actually intends, and demonstrated that it does not prove a blanket prohibition on a believer touching the Qur’ān. Refer back to it.

The presumption of permissibility (barāʾah aṣliyyah) thus remains with those who allow a Muslim in janābah to handle the Qur’ān, and no sound report in this topic warrants abandoning that presumption. Reflect on this.

His statement: “It is forbidden, according to the majority, for the person in janābah to recite anything from the Qur’ān, on the strength of ʿAlī’s ḥadīth: ‘Nothing kept the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the Qur’ān except janābah.’ It is reported by the compilers of the Sunan, and al-Tirmidhī and others declared it sound. Al-Ḥāfiẓ said in Fatḥ al-Bārī: ‘Some scholars have criticized certain narrators in its chain, yet in truth the report is ḥasan and suitable as evidence.’ ”

I reply: By no means; rather, it is weak and incapable of establishing proof, for it is uniquely transmitted by ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salamah, and he experienced mental decline toward the end of his life—as al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar himself acknowledges in al-Taqrīb. It was in that impaired state that he narrated this ḥadīth, as has already been explained in the relevant chapter