Touching and Reciting the Qur’an Without Wudū’: Shar‘i Ruling and Concessions
Source: Fatāwā Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Mubārakpūrī, Vol. 1, Pg. 183
❖ Question
What is the ruling on touching and reciting the Qur’an without being in a state of purity (wudū’)?
❖ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ‘alā Rasūlillāh, ammā ba‘d!
- In general circumstances:
◈ Touching or holding the Qur’an without wudū’ is not permissible.
◈ Sharī‘ah has stipulated wudū’ as a condition for it.
◈ Special Cases of Concession
➊ In case of intestinal gas or flatulence:
- If a person suffers from excessive intestinal gas,
- And restraining it causes pain,
- Then such a person may recite by looking into the Qur’an without wudū’.
➋ For one with chronic flatulence (continuous invalidation of wudū’):
- If a person suffers from persistent emission of gas and cannot maintain wudū’,
- And experiences repeated invalidation of wudū’,
- Then for such a person, due to necessity, touching and reciting the Qur’an without wudū’ is permissible.
➌ Recitation without touching:
- If someone recites the Qur’an without touching it—merely by looking or by heart—then it is absolutely permissible.
◈ Additional Guidance
- Books containing supplications and adhkār, such as al-Ḥizb al-Maqbūl, are sufficient for such people.
Written by: ʿUbaydullāh Raḥmānī, 11/1979 CE
(In a letter to Muḥammad Fārūq Aʿẓamī)
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
