What is the ruling on placing newspaper pages containing verses or hadiths in a paper shredder?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh. There is a machine that cuts paper to destroy it.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : It shreds the paper into pieces.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So that the words present cannot be read. Is it permissible to put verses from the Qur'an or paper from the Qur'an in it, since it shreds the paper into pieces?
The Shaykh : Yes, this machine that shreds paper: if you put in a page from a mushaf, a page of hadith, or a page containing a verse or a hadith, and it tears and shreds it so that the name of Allah, for example, is no longer present, then there is no harm.
The questioner : Perhaps some letters might appear.
The Shaykh : No, they are of two types. These machines are of two types:
One type makes long strips. In these, the name of the Most High, for example, or a word from a verse might appear. This type is not suitable.
The questioner : It is not permissible, you mean?
The Shaykh : And some shred it until it is like grains of rice, because they cut it lengthwise and crosswise. In this type, no letter remains. So if you want to buy one like this, buy this type.
The questioner : But the first one is not permissible?
The Shaykh : The first one, as I told you: if we examine these strips and find the name of the Most High or the wording of a verse in them, we must burn what we found. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : It shreds the paper into pieces.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So that the words present cannot be read. Is it permissible to put verses from the Qur'an or paper from the Qur'an in it, since it shreds the paper into pieces?
The Shaykh : Yes, this machine that shreds paper: if you put in a page from a mushaf, a page of hadith, or a page containing a verse or a hadith, and it tears and shreds it so that the name of Allah, for example, is no longer present, then there is no harm.
The questioner : Perhaps some letters might appear.
The Shaykh : No, they are of two types. These machines are of two types:
One type makes long strips. In these, the name of the Most High, for example, or a word from a verse might appear. This type is not suitable.
The questioner : It is not permissible, you mean?
The Shaykh : And some shred it until it is like grains of rice, because they cut it lengthwise and crosswise. In this type, no letter remains. So if you want to buy one like this, buy this type.
The questioner : But the first one is not permissible?
The Shaykh : The first one, as I told you: if we examine these strips and find the name of the Most High or the wording of a verse in them, we must burn what we found. Yes.