—and it is advisable, though not strictly mandatory, that one refrain from reciting the Qur’an—even from memory—unless he is in a state of ritual purity, for that is part of the respect owed to the Qur’an.

Another form of sincere counsel to the Book of Allah is not to place it anywhere that entails contempt or degradation—such as sites of filth and the like. One must therefore beware of what some schoolchildren do: when classes end, they throw their textbooks—among them sections of the musḥaf—onto roadsides, into trash bins, and similar places. We seek Allah’s protection from such behavior.

Placing the musḥaf on clean, pure ground, however, carries no objection or sin, for it is not a slight to the Qur’an. This often occurs when someone is praying and reading from a musḥaf; when he wishes to prostrate, he sets it down before him. That is not deemed disrespectful, so there is no harm in it. Allah knows best.

As for the third object of counsel, the Prophet ﷺ said: “and to His Messenger.” Sincere counsel to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ includes several matters:

1. Complete faith in his mission and the conviction that Allah the Exalted sent him to all creation—Arab and non-Arab, indeed to humankind and jinn alike. Allah says, “We have sent you to mankind as a Messenger” (al-Nisāʾ 4:79), and He says, “Blessed is He who sent down the Criterion upon His servant so that he may be a warner to all the worlds” (al-Furqān 25:1). Verses on this theme are many. Thus one must believe that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah to every creature, jinn and human alike.

Another aspect of sincere counsel to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is to affirm the truth of everything he reports, holding that he is truthful and confirmed as truthful—truthful in what he conveys and confirmed in all that was revealed to him. He never lied, nor was he ever judged a liar.