—that nothing kept the Prophet ﷺ from the Qur’an except a state of major ritual impurity.
(d) The term ṭāhir may also denote “one who has performed ablution,” for al-Bukhārī (6954) and Muslim (255) relate that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah does not accept the prayer of any one of you when he is in a state of ḥadath until he performs wuḍūʾ.”
All of these legally-recognized meanings of purity are conceivable here, and we possess no decisive evidence that prefers one over another. The safest course is therefore to interpret the ḥadith according to its lowest threshold—minor ritual impurity—for that is certain and accords with the position of the majority, including the four imams and their followers.
Even so, this does not furnish conclusive proof that it is unlawful for someone in minor impurity to touch the muṣḥaf, because doubt about the ḥadith’s authenticity remains; nonetheless, prudence and what is preferable is to adhere to that view.
Ibn Rushd said: “The cause of their disagreement lies in the ambiguity of the Almighty’s words, ‘None touch it except the purified’ (Q 56:79): whether ‘the purified’ are human beings or the angels, and whether the statement is intended as a prohibition or merely as information.
Whoever understood ‘the purified’ to mean human beings and took the statement as a prohibition held that no one may touch the muṣḥaf except a person who is pure. But whoever regarded it as simple information and understood ‘the purified’ to refer to the angels said that the verse offers no evidence for requiring this purity when touching the muṣḥaf, and thus there is no proof from either the Book or an authentic Sunnah for those who reject the ḥadith.”
7 – The ḥadith inculcates veneration for the Qur’an and the duty to honor it: it is impermissible to touch the muṣḥaf with any impurity or to place it in an unsuitable location—whether because the place is filthy, beside images, with its verses displayed next to pictures, recited in a venue of frivolity or to the accompaniment of songs, in the presence of someone smoking, or amid clamour and loud voices. All such situations expose the Book of Allah Most High to disrespect.