It is permissible to touch or read Quran from a phone or i-Pad without Wudu?

Question:

It is permisible to touch  or read quran from a phone or I Pad without Wudu.

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Qur’an is the divine word of Allah Ta’ala hence it deserves utmost respect. It is for this reason many jurists have prescribed etiquettes for reciting Qur’an. One should make every effort to abide by these etiquettes. One such etiquette is to recite the Qur’an in the state of wudhu’.

With regards to touching the Qur’an, Allah Ta’ala says,

لَا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ

None but the purest touch it

(Quran 56:79)

Hence it is not permissible to touch Qur’an without wudhu’. In case of iPad and phones, one will need to flip the pages by touching the screen, and in doing so one will touch the Quranic inscription as well. The same ruling of impermissibility will apply to these devices as well. [1]

We advise you to keep wudhu’ at all times, especially if you are in a habit of reading the Qur’an through such devices.

And Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Mufti Faisal bin Abdul Hameed,
Montréal, Canada

Checked and Concurred by,

Mufti Ismail Desai

 [1] كذا الوضوء فرض “لمس المصحف ولو آية” مكتوبة على درهم أو حائط لقوله تعالى: {لا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ} وسواء الكتابة والبياض وقال بعض مشايخنا إنما يكره للمحدث مس الموضع المكتوب دون الحواشي لأنه لم يمس القرآن حقيقة والصحيح أن مسها كمس المكتوب  (حاشية الطحطاوي على مراقي الفلاح شرح نور الإيضاح (ص: 82))