How can one look at the Qur'an, when the gaze is supposed to directed to the place of prostration while in qiyam, between the toes while in ruku...! Not to mention the fact the holding the Qur'an in hand while in salah would constitute amal katheer. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to be performing ruku and sujood with the Qur'an in ones hand.
add to that putting the muS'Haf on the floor whilst reading from it lying down. they also carry it as if it's just another book, i.e. in one hand with hands by the side.
I would be extremely disconcerted to be standing in row (for taraweeh salah) and have someone behind my back (in the row behind) holding a copy of the holy Qur'an. But I guess most people in middle-east do not mind turning their back, pointing their feet etc. towards the holy Qur'an. I once read one arabicised sub-continent'er' accusing the barelwis for according such 'extreme' respect to the Qur'an (such as not turning the back to it etc.) that it amounted to shirk!
A brother who has been to Syria told me that it is common practice among syrians to be holding Qur'an during taraweeh salah.
as far as I know, in Ahnaf, it is not permitted to look into the Quran for the imam as well as the muqtadi and any correction pointed by a muqtadi to the imam (in case of a recitation error) by looking will also not be acceptable. this applies if he is holding the Mushaf in the hands AND also if certain verses are hung/painted on the mosque's walls, reading off of them too is not acceptable. in Shafi'iys it is permitted for non-fard and non-witr salah, as far as I know. as for if praying behind such a Shafi'iy imam is ok or not for a Hanafi muqtadi or for a Hanafi imam to accept a correction from a Shafi'iy muqtadi who is holding the Mushaf, please ask a mufti you trust. [Sunni by 'aqidah] common people in some parts of the Arab world and also many in Turkey tend to be "Shanafis" and take masaa'il from each other, at times with full knowledge, at times without. for example, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Turk who doesn't eat prawns and oysters. Sure, in case of food habits, it might be nafsanic, but at other times like salah, it has more to do with intra-Sunni unity and brotherhood and living together in a shared culture over hundreds of years. Allah and His Messenger ('alaihis salam) know best.
Asalamu alaykum What do the hanafi imams state in regards to whether or not it is permissible for an imam to recite the Quran whilst looking at the quran during salah
