touching Qur'an, tafsir etc. without wudu

update:

i found this in al-itqan, see here.
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1. handling the qur'an should be sensible in this situation like keeping it on the table or if not, putting it back in its place.

i remember reading it [probably in itqan] that one can handle the qur'an even when one is not clean in times of necessity. for example when it has fallen down and there is nobody else to pick it up.

it happened once that a hindu colleague found a copy of the qur'an in a shelf [he inherited from a muslim who had left the company] and picked it up and handed it to me; i did not have wuDu at that time and i was also wearing shoes [it would have taken some time to get a wuDu or tayammum done]. i just took it from his hands and put it in my shelf of books. a similar situation happened on the road when i had to pick up the mus'haf when somebody dropped it as they got down from the car.

among the things i shudder to mention is once when i found a torn piece from an arabic newspaper in the toilet with the tasmiyah written on it. i had to tear off the tasmiyah.

these situations are termed 'necessity' where the impermissible become permissible; and the precedence is given to the lesser-evil.

short answer: put the mus'haf on the shelf properly if you lose wuDu during recitation. and if it is by heart, then there is nothing much except imam nawawi says that it is desirable to withhold from recitation if one has the urge to break wind and continue thereafter if he is done with it.
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2. there is no such specification in my knowledge. this is how it is in bahar e shariat. however it is better to give some in charity as : 'whosoever does an atom's worth of goodness shall see it'

Allah taala knows best.

 

JazakAllah brother aH for your detailed response.

I have couple more questions regarding the etiquettes with the holy Qur'an:

1. What should one do if one loses wudu while reciting the Qur'an? Since touching any part of Qur'an without wudu is prohibited, how should one best handle the situation?

2. What is the expiation for dropping the Qur'an accidentally? Is it obligatory to give some amount for charity as an act of expiation?

 

the hukm is that earlier scholars disliked it without wuDu even, but later scholars permitted it accomodating the convenience of the commonfolk. it is makruh but permissible to handle books of fiqh and hadith for those without wuDu or ghusl.

but if there is a verse of qur'an in hadith it should not be touched as described above.

Allah ta'ala knows best.

 

in the chapter of salat, is the subheading: 'recitation'. there is a report by our imam, abu Hanifah raHimahullah, that he allowed the recitation in persian and that it fulfils the condition of 'recitation', which is farD. in tatarkhaniyyah, it is mentioned that he recanted his earlier position.

a discussion about it is for academics and found in books of fiqh; but the ruling is unequivocal: it is not permitted to recite in farsi in place of the verse itself. so let us not confuse it.

note: i have used 'translation' but the sources mention only farsi. from tatarkhaniyyah, it is clear that it is only about persian and not about any translation.

Allah ta'ala knows best.

 

here are short answers as understood from Hanafi texts [details will follow inshaAllah]
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not permissible for persons without wuDu;
not permissible for persons without ghusl. [and those without ghusl could be junub or a menstruating woman.]

if the commentary is with the complete qur'an, it is not permissible for those without wuDu or ghusl; similar for case (v) and case (vi) though some made concessions for case (vi). in radd al-muHtar it says makruh but better to avoid. case (v) : if the covering is a part of the mus'haf [like the leather bound portable versions with zippers] then it is not permissible; if it is just wrapped such that you remove it when you handle the mus'Haf it is permissible for those without wuDu.

in the mus'haf, the white on the edges of the pages: even this is not permissible for those without wuDu or ghusl.

it is not permissible for those without wuDu to touch the writing itself; but they can handle it by holding at the edges or places where the qur'an or its translation is not written. it is makruh for the junub or menstruating woman however.

also there is no harm in looking at the writing of the quran for anybody - whether without wuDu or ghusl; junub or menstruating woman because ritual impurity does not affect the eye.

varying opinions from impermissible to makruh. some consider it as similar to quran and hence the same ruling; as for touching the ayat itself, it is impermissible. bahar-e-shariat says it to be Haram following durr al-mukhtar; radd al-muhtar discusses the difference and prefers makruh tahrimi. imam nawawi writes that it is Haram.

in bahar-e-shariat it is written that it is not permissible either, to touch a translation. i could not find a reference at the moment, but i think it is based on the analogy that in a report our imam permitted salat/prayer with the recitation in translation [of the verse if one recited], hence it is similar to the verse. Allah ta'ala knows best.

touching or handling the book itself - whether fiqh or any other islamic discipline is permissible though disliked [makruh]. touching the ayah within the book is not permissible.

Allah ta'ala knows best.

 

this is offtopic:

while imam nawawi is a shafiyi mujtahid - raHimahullah wa raDiya `anhu wa naf`ana bi `ulumihi wa barakatih - this is a book is common to all of us. he also indicates minor differences of other madh'habs where relevant in his Tibyan fi Adabi Hamalati'l Quran. [The Manifestation: On the Etiquette of Bearing the Qur'an]

i don't think any among the people of knowledge will disagree that this book should be made compulsory for every one. student and commoner alike.

 

I would appreciate if someone could categorically answer whether each of the following actions are permitted without wudu (in hanafi school). If possible, please provide the necessary references and classify the degree of permissibility.

I have been through Musa Furber's translation of Imam Nawawi's Etiquette with the Qur’an (Al-Tibyan fi Adab al - Qur'an). Not all of the following items have been covered, moreover it only presents the position of shafii school on these issues.

1) touching the mushaf (complete compilation of Qur’an)
i) touching the Qur’anic ayats in Arabic
ii) touching the non-arabic translation
iii) touching the commentary / marginalia
iv) touching the cover the Qur’an
v) touching the cloth or paper covering around the Qur’an
vi) touching the strap of the cloth wrapping around the Qur’an

2) touching the suhuf (loose collection of Qur’anic ayats), such as on the calendars, wall decorations etc.

3) touching the tafsir
i) handling the tafsir with more than 50% Qur’anic ayat content
ii) handling the tafsir with less than 50% Qur’anic ayat content
iii) touching the complete Qur’anic ayat (in Arabic) within the tafsir
iv) touching the incomplete Qur’anic ayat (in Arabic) within the tafsir
v) touching the Qur’anic ayat (in transliterated or romanized form) within the tafsir
vi) touching the direct translation of Qur’anic ayat within the tafsir

4) touching a general Islamic/ non-Islamic book
i) touching the complete Qur’anic ayat (in Arabic) within the book
ii) touching the incomplete Qur’anic ayat (in Arabic) within the book
iii) touching the Qur’anic ayat (in transliterated or romanized form) within the book
iv) touching the direct translation of Qur’anic ayat within the book


which of the above action would still be permitted in the state of major impurity?