What is the ruling on hanging Qur'anic verses in homes or cars?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
May peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you, esteemed Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The questioner : Esteemed Shaykh, what is the ruling on hanging Qur'anic verses or noble hadiths in a gathering place, for example, or in a car?
The Shaykh : Yes, hanging Qur'anic verses in gathering places is a religious innovation (bid'ah) that people have introduced. It was not known in the time of the righteous Salaf. This is because the Noble Qur'an is not a decoration to be plastered on walls and used to adorn them, as we have seen some people hang a plaque on which a verse is written, making that verse look like a palace, so it is designed in the style of a building with balconies. We have seen that.
Some people hang Surat al-Ikhlas (Say: He is Allah, One) in this manner. When you see it, you say, "This is a palace." The Qur'an is too noble to be a decoration or a plastering on walls. If the intention is seeking blessing (tabarruk), seeking blessing is not by writing the Book of Allah and hanging it on walls. The true seeking of blessing in the Qur'an is seeking blessing through its recitation, for every letter of it is ten good deeds. Likewise, if the intention is to take a lesson and to remember.
We have not found that a gathering place in which some of the verses of Allah are written increases in the people's mindfulness of Allah, their taking of lessons, or their remembrance. Rather, we see that in some of these gathering places, what is wrong is done: smoking is done there, people backbite one another, and their reputations are consumed. This is nothing but a form of mockery of the Book of Allah, which is above your head while you are mocking it in disobedience to Allah. If the intention is protection and the daily recitation, as verses are hung on chests.
This is also a religious innovation (bid'ah). The righteous Salaf did not seek protection by writing verses on their walls. And this latter case, meaning intending protection, leads a person to rely on that and not read the verses of protection himself, such as Ayat al-Kursi. Whoever reads it in the night, a protector from Allah remains with him, and no Shaytan approaches him until morning. And such as the last two verses of Surat al-Baqarah. Whoever reads them in the night, they suffice him.
You find a person relying on what is written in this gathering place or at the entrance of the house, the door of the house, and saying, "Now the house is protected by the verses written in it," while neglecting the true protection, which is in recitation.
Therefore, we see that these verses should not be hung on walls. As for the hadiths.
If what is hung is appropriate to the occasion, such as hanging the expiation of the gathering, then there is nothing wrong with it, because this is a reminder and people benefit from it. When a person sees written near the door of the gathering the expiation of the gathering, which is to say, "Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, Allahumma ighfir li" (Glory is to You, O our Lord, and praise. O Allah, forgive me), he remembers this and says it. Likewise, hanging in cars.
If the hanging in cars consists of appropriate, transmitted remembrances, such as a person hanging in the car the supplication for riding, then this is good and a reminder, and there is nothing wrong with it. And every person feels that he benefits from it.
And it would be better if the writing were in large letters so that those in the back can read it, because this small writing is read only by the person next to it, who is the one who reads it. As for the person in the back, he cannot read it. So if it were made in a large script, if possible, so that the person in the back can read it, that would be good. Yes.
May peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you, esteemed Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The questioner : Esteemed Shaykh, what is the ruling on hanging Qur'anic verses or noble hadiths in a gathering place, for example, or in a car?
The Shaykh : Yes, hanging Qur'anic verses in gathering places is a religious innovation (bid'ah) that people have introduced. It was not known in the time of the righteous Salaf. This is because the Noble Qur'an is not a decoration to be plastered on walls and used to adorn them, as we have seen some people hang a plaque on which a verse is written, making that verse look like a palace, so it is designed in the style of a building with balconies. We have seen that.
Some people hang Surat al-Ikhlas (Say: He is Allah, One) in this manner. When you see it, you say, "This is a palace." The Qur'an is too noble to be a decoration or a plastering on walls. If the intention is seeking blessing (tabarruk), seeking blessing is not by writing the Book of Allah and hanging it on walls. The true seeking of blessing in the Qur'an is seeking blessing through its recitation, for every letter of it is ten good deeds. Likewise, if the intention is to take a lesson and to remember.
We have not found that a gathering place in which some of the verses of Allah are written increases in the people's mindfulness of Allah, their taking of lessons, or their remembrance. Rather, we see that in some of these gathering places, what is wrong is done: smoking is done there, people backbite one another, and their reputations are consumed. This is nothing but a form of mockery of the Book of Allah, which is above your head while you are mocking it in disobedience to Allah. If the intention is protection and the daily recitation, as verses are hung on chests.
This is also a religious innovation (bid'ah). The righteous Salaf did not seek protection by writing verses on their walls. And this latter case, meaning intending protection, leads a person to rely on that and not read the verses of protection himself, such as Ayat al-Kursi. Whoever reads it in the night, a protector from Allah remains with him, and no Shaytan approaches him until morning. And such as the last two verses of Surat al-Baqarah. Whoever reads them in the night, they suffice him.
You find a person relying on what is written in this gathering place or at the entrance of the house, the door of the house, and saying, "Now the house is protected by the verses written in it," while neglecting the true protection, which is in recitation.
Therefore, we see that these verses should not be hung on walls. As for the hadiths.
If what is hung is appropriate to the occasion, such as hanging the expiation of the gathering, then there is nothing wrong with it, because this is a reminder and people benefit from it. When a person sees written near the door of the gathering the expiation of the gathering, which is to say, "Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, Allahumma ighfir li" (Glory is to You, O our Lord, and praise. O Allah, forgive me), he remembers this and says it. Likewise, hanging in cars.
If the hanging in cars consists of appropriate, transmitted remembrances, such as a person hanging in the car the supplication for riding, then this is good and a reminder, and there is nothing wrong with it. And every person feels that he benefits from it.
And it would be better if the writing were in large letters so that those in the back can read it, because this small writing is read only by the person next to it, who is the one who reads it. As for the person in the back, he cannot read it. So if it were made in a large script, if possible, so that the person in the back can read it, that would be good. Yes.