The Response to Some Objections That Suggest the Prohibition of Touching the Mushaf

The Shaykh : As for some of the doubts and objections raised on this occasion, they are not strong. For example, citing the noble verse: to prohibit the one in a state of major ritual impurity and the menstruating woman from touching the Qur'an. This is an oversight of the fact that the verse is not intended to discuss such a ruling regarding humans, but rather it was brought to speak about the Mother of the Qur'an, its origin, which is the Preserved Tablet from which this Qur'an that is in our hands was revealed. So His saying—Blessed and Exalted is He—: refers to the hidden Book, where He said—Mighty and Majestic—: .
This hidden Book is the one that , and our Qur'an is not described as hidden; rather, it is apparent and clear. It is its Mother, which is in the Preserved Tablet, that is the one that no one touches except the purified ones. Therefore, the intended meaning of "the purified ones" is the angels brought near, not humans, for many reasons, among which is the context of the verse: , this hidden Book is not reached by the hands of the devils, . Likewise, it came in Surat 'Abasa as an explanation for this noble verse: , until Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book, Al-Muwatta: "The best I have heard in the interpretation of this verse: is like the one in Surat 'Abasa: ." These noble scribes, the righteous ones, are the purified ones in the previous verse.
And other things we benefited from Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) in his book, "The Divisions of the Qur'an," which indicate that the purified ones are the angels and not humans. This is because the righteous among humans, let alone the wicked, are not purified by nature, but rather they purify themselves. There is a difference in the Arabic language between "al-mutahhar" (purified by nature) and "al-mutatahhir" (one who purifies himself). "Al-mutahhar" is one who is purified by creation, while "al-mutatahhir" is one who became impure and then purified himself. Therefore, He said—Exalted is He—: ; meaning: the Mosque of Quba, which was for the Helpers, and Allah praised them, so He praised them by saying—Mighty and Majestic—: .
Likewise, His saying—Exalted is He—: , He did not say "He loves the purified ones" (al-mutahharin), because there is no merit in that; something that Allah—Mighty and Majestic—created purified is not praised. But the thing that He created capable of becoming impure and purifying itself, and it purifies itself; these are the ones who are praised. So the verse: has absolutely no relation to this topic; rather, it speaks about the Mother of this Qur'an, which is in the Preserved Tablet, and that the angels are the ones who descended with it to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and the devils did not descend with it.