We see some merchants and business owners using incomplete parts of verses and placing them on doorways, such as the food vendor who writes ((
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The questioner : The listener, Abdullah al-Arabi, also says: We see some merchants and business owners using incomplete parts of verses and placing them on doorways. For example, the food vendor writes the drink vendor [Al-Insan 76:21] the bookstore owner [Taha 20:114] and so on with these usages, which sometimes seem to have greatly exceeded the limit. We ask for guidance in this matter?
The Shaykh : Yes. Hanging these verses is divided into two categories.
The questioner : Very well.
The Shaykh : Sometimes the intention is to seek protection and safety, like those who hang the Verse of the Throne or the chapters of protection (al-Mu’awwidhat) or the like. This is undoubtedly not prescribed and is something that should not be done, because it was not reported from the righteous predecessors, and because it leads a person to rely on it and neglect reading these verses that provide protection, relying instead on what is hung.
Sometimes the intention is to serve as a reminder, as the questioner mentioned, where it is written for the one entering the bookstore[Taha 20:114] and the like. One might say this is not prescribed because it was not reported from the righteous predecessors, and because it may or may not be beneficial. Often, a verse from the Qur'an that forbids something is hung, and the people sitting in that place are doing the very thing that is forbidden. For example, if it is written in the gathering place [Al-Hujurat 49:12], do the people sitting there benefit from what is written? They may benefit, or they may not. Perhaps they backbite people while the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) are above their heads, and Allah says in it [Al-Hujurat 49:12], so they do not benefit from this writing. Sometimes the Qur'an is hung because it is written in an embroidered style, as if it were engravings and tattoos, to the point that some of them write it in the shape of a palace.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And in the shape of a minaret and the like. This is most like playing with the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on whether it is permissible to write the Qur'an other than in the Uthmanic script, that is, according to the known rules, or whether it is not permissible. There are three opinions: some forbade it absolutely, some permitted it absolutely, and some distinguished between cases. They said that if we write it for someone who is proficient in reading the Qur'an in the Uthmanic script, there is no harm. But if we write it in the Uthmanic script for a person who is feared to pronounce the Qur'an according to the written letters, then we do not write it. For example,[Al-Baqarah 2:275] is written with a waw. If we write it with a waw for a person who does not know the pronunciation of the Qur'an, he might say "and He forbade riba" (with a short vowel).
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The word "salah" (prayer) is also written with a waw. Perhaps if we write it in the Uthmanic script with a waw for a person who is not good at reciting the pronunciation, he might say "saloot" (with a short vowel), and so on.
The important point is that some scholars distinguished in this matter and said that if it is written for a person from whom distortion of the Qur'an following the letters is not feared, then it must remain in the Uthmanic script. And if it is written for a person who is feared to distort the Qur'an based on the writing of the letters, then it is written according to the rule known among people. If the scholars differed on departing from the Uthmanic script, how can we permit a person to write the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in the shape of a palace or minarets or the like? There is no doubt in its prohibition. It is obligatory for anyone who has something written in this manner to obliterate it and convert it to writing according to the Uthmanic script. This is if we say that hanging verses on walls is permissible.
The fourth category is one who hangs verses that have no relation to the subject. Safety from hanging verses on walls is safer and more purifying for the conscience and more cautious for the person, so he is in no need of hanging verses on walls.
As for hanging some sayings or maxims on walls, there is no harm in that and no blame.
The questioner : Good, good.
And if you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]
ولئن شكرتم لأزيدنكمand their Lord will give them a purifying drink.
وسقاهم ربهم شرابا طهوراand say, "My Lord, increase me in knowledge."
وقل رب زدني علماThe Shaykh : Yes. Hanging these verses is divided into two categories.
The questioner : Very well.
The Shaykh : Sometimes the intention is to seek protection and safety, like those who hang the Verse of the Throne or the chapters of protection (al-Mu’awwidhat) or the like. This is undoubtedly not prescribed and is something that should not be done, because it was not reported from the righteous predecessors, and because it leads a person to rely on it and neglect reading these verses that provide protection, relying instead on what is hung.
Sometimes the intention is to serve as a reminder, as the questioner mentioned, where it is written for the one entering the bookstore
and say, "My Lord, increase me in knowledge."
وقل رب زدني علماor backbite each other
ولا يغتب بعضكم بعضاor backbite each other
لا يغتب بعضكم بعضاThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And in the shape of a minaret and the like. This is most like playing with the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on whether it is permissible to write the Qur'an other than in the Uthmanic script, that is, according to the known rules, or whether it is not permissible. There are three opinions: some forbade it absolutely, some permitted it absolutely, and some distinguished between cases. They said that if we write it for someone who is proficient in reading the Qur'an in the Uthmanic script, there is no harm. But if we write it in the Uthmanic script for a person who is feared to pronounce the Qur'an according to the written letters, then we do not write it. For example,
But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest
أحل الله البيع وحرم الرباThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The word "salah" (prayer) is also written with a waw. Perhaps if we write it in the Uthmanic script with a waw for a person who is not good at reciting the pronunciation, he might say "saloot" (with a short vowel), and so on.
The important point is that some scholars distinguished in this matter and said that if it is written for a person from whom distortion of the Qur'an following the letters is not feared, then it must remain in the Uthmanic script. And if it is written for a person who is feared to distort the Qur'an based on the writing of the letters, then it is written according to the rule known among people. If the scholars differed on departing from the Uthmanic script, how can we permit a person to write the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in the shape of a palace or minarets or the like? There is no doubt in its prohibition. It is obligatory for anyone who has something written in this manner to obliterate it and convert it to writing according to the Uthmanic script. This is if we say that hanging verses on walls is permissible.
The fourth category is one who hangs verses that have no relation to the subject. Safety from hanging verses on walls is safer and more purifying for the conscience and more cautious for the person, so he is in no need of hanging verses on walls.
As for hanging some sayings or maxims on walls, there is no harm in that and no blame.
The questioner : Good, good.