The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade the use of the diminutives “musayjid” (little mosque) and “muṣayḥif” (little muṣḥaf).
Among the Qur’an’s sanctity is that no blank sheet unrelated to it be left inside it.
Among its sanctity is that it not be gilded with gold or written in gold, for that mixes it with the tawdry ornamentation of this world.
Al-Mughīrah reported from Ibrāhīm that he disliked a muṣḥaf being gilded, written in gold, marked at the verse headings, or produced in a reduced size.
Abū al-Dardāʾ narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“When you beautify your mosques and adorn your copies of the Qur’an, destruction will be upon you.”[1]
Ibn ʿAbbās, upon seeing a muṣḥaf decorated with silver, remarked, “You are only enticing the thief, while its real adornment lies within it.”
Among its sanctity is that it not be written on the ground or on a wall, as is done in some newly built mosques.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Shaqīqī narrated from his father, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak, from Sufyān, from Muḥammad ibn al-Zubayr who said: I heard ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz relate that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, passed by some writing on the ground and said to a young man from Hudhayl, “What is this?” He replied, “It is from the Book of Allah; a Jew wrote it.” He said, “May Allah curse the one who did this! Do not place the Book of Allah anywhere except in its proper place.”
Muḥammad ibn al-Zubayr added: ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz once saw one of his sons writing the Qur’an on a wall and struck him.
Among its sanctity is that when someone washes off Qur’anic writing to drink the water as a remedy, he must not pour it onto refuse, into an impure place, or onto ground that people tread. Rather, he should pour it on a patch of earth where people do not walk, or dig a small hole in a clean spot so that the water running off his body gathers there and then cover it, or pour it into a large river where it will mix with the water and flow away.
Among the diligence owed to it is to begin it anew every time one completes it, so that it is not treated like an abandoned thing. For this reason, whenever the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, finished a recitation he would read about five verses from the beginning of the Qur’an, lest it appear forsaken.
Ibn ʿAbbās narrated that a man asked, “O Messenger of Allah, which deed is best?” He replied, “Adhere to al-ḥāll al-murtaḥil.” The man asked, “What is al-ḥāll al-murtaḥil?” He said, “The companion of the Qur’an who travels through it from its beginning until he reaches its end, then returns to its beginning whenever he sets down or moves on.”
I (the author) say: It is recommended that, upon completing the Qur’an, one gather his family.
Abū Bakr al-Anbārī reported—Idrīs narrated to us, Khalaf narrated to us, Wakīʿ from Miʿsar from Qatādah—that Anas ibn Mālik, whenever he completed the Qur’an, would gather his household.
[1] The Arabic word “ad-dabār” signifies ruin or calamity.