Is it permissible for a menstruating woman or a person in a state of major ritual impurity to touch the Qur'an and recite it?

The questioner : Is it permissible for a menstruating woman and a man in a state of major ritual impurity to touch the Qur'an or recite it for the sake of worship or memorization?

The Shaykh : No, we do not find in the Book or the Sunnah anything indicating the prohibition of a menstruating woman or a person in a state of major ritual impurity from touching the Qur'an or reciting it. Rather, we may find among the rules and principles what indicates the opposite, namely permissibility. This is because one of the principles upon which many branches are based is their saying: "The original ruling for things is permissibility." Here, touching the Qur'an is involved, and here reciting from the Qur'an is involved. The original ruling for both matters is permissibility. Therefore, one should not depart from this original ruling except with compelling evidence from the Book or the authentic Sunnah. There is absolutely nothing in the Book or the Sunnah that prevents a person in a state of major ritual impurity from touching the Qur'an or reciting it, nor does it prevent a menstruating woman. In fact, we may find within the folds of the Sunnah what supports this original ruling. For example, Imam Muslim narrated in his *Sahih* from the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would remember Allah in all his states." This general statement made by Aisha in her hadith encompasses all the times of the Messenger (peace be upon him); that is, whether he was in a state of purity or not, whether he was in a state of minor or major ritual impurity. What confirms this general meaning in this hadith of Aisha is that she also told us that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would sometimes wake up in the morning in a state of major ritual impurity due to a wet dream, even in Ramadan. The dawn would break while he was in a state of major ritual impurity from the wet dream, and he would fast and then take a full ritual bath.
The point of inference from this is that we know from other hadiths as well that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not sleep until he recited Surat al-Mulk, and he would not sleep on many nights until he recited Surat al-Muzzammil. Similarly, in some hadiths, there is encouragement to recite the Verse of the Throne, stating that it protects the house and those in it from the evil of Satan, and similar to that are the known dhikr in books of dhikr. So, what indicates that the Messenger (peace be upon him), on that night when he was sleeping in a state of major ritual impurity, was not reciting what he prescribed, if that is the correct expression, for people to recite before lying down to sleep.
So our previous hadith, along with these observations, suggests to the Muslim that there is no restriction on a person in a state of major ritual impurity from reciting something from the Qur'an. And there is no doubt that our research is as stated in the question: Is there a prohibition on touching or reciting from the Qur'an?

The questioner : From the Qur'an, touching the Qur'an.

The Shaykh : Touching, and reciting.

The questioner : And reciting.

The Shaykh : That is it.
So I spoke about both issues, and now I have branched out the discussion on one of them, namely reciting. I say: What precedes indicates that the original ruling in this issue is permissibility. But when we say: "We do not find what prevents," we mean that we do not find what forbids. As for the fact that there is what indicates the dislike of reciting the Qur'an without purity, that exists. That is because Imam Abu Dawud narrated in his *Sunan* that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) relieved himself one day, and soon a man met him and greeted him. The Messenger (peace be upon him) hurried to the wall and performed dry ablution, then returned the greeting and said: . We find in this hadith—and it is, of course, a hadith with an authentic chain—that the Prophet (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) disliked mentioning the name of Allah without purity. That is because the greeting, as he (peace be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: . So when he wanted to return the greeting to the one who had greeted him (peace be upon him), he disliked returning it except in a state of purity. And since purity with water was not available to him until after the greeter had passed, he hurried to perform dry ablution with the wall and returned the greeting.
If this is his case (peace be upon him), that he would say: ; meaning: "I will say: 'And upon you be peace'" , then it is even more likely that reciting the Qur'an is disliked compared to giving the greeting. Therefore, we conclude that reciting the Qur'an by one in a state of ritual impurity, even if it is minor ritual impurity, let alone one in a state of major ritual impurity, is permissible but disliked. And we cannot say that this dislike is a dislike of prohibition, given the previous hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would remember Allah in all his states." There is no need to question whether the Qur'an was mentioned in the dhikr here; because we say: The first thing that comes to the mind of a Muslim who understands the Arabic language is that the first thing included in the term "dhikr" is the Noble Qur'an. Because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has named it "dhikr" in more than one verse. He said in the famous verse: , and in the other verse: . So Aisha's (may Allah be pleased with her) saying: "He would remember Allah" means that he would recite the words of Allah in all his states, whether he was in a state of major ritual impurity or in a state of purity. But in his previous saying:
But this is only said regarding the person in a state of major ritual impurity, whether male or female; because both of them are able to purify themselves, even by dry ablution when they are unable to use water. If we know this, then the menstruating woman has another ruling. She has a ruling that is easier than the previous ruling regarding the person in a state of major ritual impurity. That is because it can be said to the person in a state of major ritual impurity: "Purify yourself." But it is not said to the menstruating woman in the Shari'ah: "Purify yourself." Even if she were to strain herself and take a full ritual bath intending to purify herself, she would not be able to purify herself, even if she bathed in the waters of the seven seas. So she is unable to purify herself in the Shari'ah. Therefore, it is assumed that the Wise Lawgiver would be more lenient with her than with the man in a state of major ritual impurity, whom He permitted to recite the Qur'an while in a state of major ritual impurity, with dislike, as we explained earlier. As for the menstruating woman, if this were said to her, it would mean restricting her and turning her away from reciting the Qur'an for the duration of her menstruation, which may sometimes reach a full week and may sometimes exceed that.
Therefore, we find in some authentic hadiths what contains a clear basis that it is permissible for a menstruating woman to recite the Qur'an. The first of these is the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) during the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) Hajj, when they stopped at a place near Mecca called "Sarif." The Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) entered upon Aisha and found her crying. He said to her: . She said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said (peace and blessings be upon him): .
This hadith indicates that a menstruating woman is not prohibited from entering the Sacred Mosque; for he said to her: . He did not say to her, "Do not enter the mosque." Rather, he permitted her by the general text: . So what does the pilgrim do? Every pilgrim, whether male or female, must enter the Sacred Mosque, must perform the circumambulation and the walking between al-Safa and al-Marwah, and must remember Allah by reciting the Qur'an and other prescribed remembrances, then sit in the mosque to worship Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and remember Him. When we find the Messenger (peace be upon him) saying to her: ; do everything the pilgrim does, and among the things the pilgrim does first is entering the mosque; therefore, he permitted her to enter the Sacred Mosque. Therefore, he permitted her to enter the mosques of the world; for as you all know, the Sacred Mosque is the best mosque on the face of the earth. If the Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) permitted her to enter the Sacred Mosque, but not to pray, then it is even more fitting that she enter any mosque in the world. Then, after this reasoning that included the mosque and thus included recitation as well, he excluded prayer and circumambulation, so everything else remains on the original ruling and what is included in this general text: . Therefore, a menstruating woman can recite the Qur'an, not in a specific designated surah, but in all cases; she can recite the entire Qur'an.
And what confirms this ruling, and that nothing changes in the rulings pertaining to a woman in her state of purity if she exits to the other state, which is menstruation, is what Muslim narrated in his Sahih from the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). She said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And the khumrah is the prayer rug, the prayer mat; . She said: O Messenger of Allah, I am menstruating! He (peace be upon him) said: . She was assuming that a menstruating woman touching a garment would defile it, even if it did not make it ritually impure; and therefore, she was surprised when she heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say to her: . She said: I am menstruating! He said: . We say on the basis of this: her menstruation is not in her feet, it is not in her body. So if she enters the mosque and sits in it, there is no harm on her; because her menstruation is not on the surface of her body.
And finally, confirming this meaning is a hadith narrated by al-Bukhari in his Sahih from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to them, to a group of the Companions, among whom was Abu Hurayrah. He shrank back and slipped away, then returned with his head dripping water. He (peace be upon him) asked him about his absence, and he told him that he was in a state of major ritual impurity. It seemed he disliked shaking hands with him (peace be upon him); meaning, he imagined what the Lady Aisha imagined. She said: "I am menstruating," as if her menstruation was in her hand! And this man in major ritual impurity, as if the impurity was in his hand, so he meant to excuse himself from the Messenger (peace be upon him) from shaking hands with a man in major ritual impurity... he had taken a bath. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: .
Therefore, as came in another hadith: whether he is menstruating or in a state of major ritual impurity. So why do we prohibit them from reciting the Qur'an or touching the Qur'an? There is absolutely nothing that prevents that. Rather, in these texts from which it is derived, with some... and reflection upon them and contemplation, is the permissibility of recitation, and likewise the permissibility of touching, on the original principle that the believer is pure and does not become ritually impure.