Disabled person asking about putting pages of the Mus-haf in spiral-bound form

 

There is a person who has a disability and it is difficult for him to turn the pages of the Mus-haf and stop them from turning back. Is it permissible for him to put them in spiral-bound form instead of in regular book form?.

Praise be to Allaah.

It does not seem that there is anything wrong with using
spiral-bound form rather than regular book form to make it easy to turn the
pages of the Mus-haf and stop them from turning back. It is obligatory to
respect the book of Allaah, both pages and cover, but without going to
extremes. Some of the scholars said that it is mustahabb to stand up for the
Qur’aan out of respect for it, but this is an exaggeration that goes against
sharee’ah. The greatest respect we can show for the Qur’aan is to read it
and act upon it. 

Some of the Taabi’een ruled that it is permissible to touch
the Qur’aan using a strap for one who is impure in the sense of minor or
major impurity. So there is more reason for the pages of the Qur’aa not be
put in spiral-bound form than that. 

Al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 

Chapter on a man reciting Qur’aan in his wife’s lap when she
is menstruating. Abu Waa’il used to send his servant when she was
menstruating to Abu Razeen to bring the Mus-haf, and she would hold it with
a strap. 

Saheeh al-Bukhaari (1/114) 

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 

The phrase “and Abu Waa’il used to…” refers to the famous
Taabi’i, the companion of Ibn Mas’ood. This report of his was described as
mawsool by Ibn Abi Shaybah with a saheeh isnaad. 

The phrase “with a strap” refers to a string with which it
was tied to its bag. That means that it is permissible for a menstruating
woman to carry the Mus-haf without touching it directly. 

Fath al-Baari (1/402). 

Ibn al-Mundhir (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:  

Al-Hakam and Hammaad said concerning a man who touches the
Mus-haf when he is not taahir (pure): If it is by means of a strap, there is
nothing wrong with it.

 Al-Awsat
(2/101). 

This allowance on the part of these imams – and the Hanafis
and Hanbalis agreed with them – is because they thought that touching the
Mus-haf with a strap did not count as touching the Mus-haf itself. They did
not regard it as permissible for anyone who was not taahir to touch it. 

Some of the scholars ruled that it is permissible to turn the
pages of the Mus-haf with a stick and the like, for the one who wants to
read Qur’aan when he does not have wudoo’, so that he will not touch it with
his hand. This is the view of the majority apart from the Maalikis. 

In al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah (38/7) it says: 

If one who is not taahir turns the pages of the Mus-haf with
a stick in his hand, that is permissible according to the Hanafis and
Hanbalis, but it is not permissible according to the Maalikis. Among the
Shaafa’is, al-Nawawi stated that it is permissible, because it is not
touching or carrying it. He said: This was the view of the Iraqis among the
companions of al-Shaafa’i. 

End quote.

 What this disabled brother is doing is permissible because
he has an excuse, which is the disability that is preventing him from being
able to turn the pages of the Mus-haf and stop them from turning back. His
action is not contrary to showing respect to the Book of Allaah as
prescribed, rather his keenness to read the Book of Allaah and learn it as
he is able to is a sign of respecting and honouring the Book of Allaah. 

We ask Allaah to bless him with rapid healing and to raise
him in status, and to make it easy for him to memorize the Qur'aan and act
upon it. 

And Allaah knows
best.