Can You Use Quranic Verses as a Mobile Background?

Praise be to Allah.

Conditions for Displaying Quranic Verses on Devices

There is nothing wrong with putting Quranic verses as a background on the screen of a mobile phone, computer and the like, subject to the following conditions:

1. That should be for the purpose of reminding and exhorting, not for adornment.
2. It should be written in the `Uthmani script, in a way that is clear and legible, not as a kind of adornment, decoration and the like, and not in the shape of a bird or animal.
3. There should not be anything prohibited in the background, such as music or other prohibited things.

Purpose of Using Quranic Verses as Backgrounds

Shaykh `Abd Al-`Aziz ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: With regard to hanging up verses and Hadiths in offices and schools, there is nothing wrong with that, if it is for the purpose of reminding and benefitting people.(End quote from Majmu` Fatawa Ash-Shaykh Ibn Baz, 9/513)

It says in a statement of the Islamic Fiqh Council belonging to the Muslim World League concerning the topic of writing a verse or verses of the Holy Quran in the form of a bird and the like:

Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there will be no prophet, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and companions.

To proceed: the Islamic Fiqh Council of the Muslim World League, in its twelfth conference, held in Makkah Al-Mukarramah between the dates Saturday 15 Rajab 1410 AH (10 February 1990 CE) and Saturday 22 Rajab 1410 AH (17 February 1990 CE) examined the topic of writing one or more verses from the Holy Quran in the shape of a bird:

The Council determined, on the basis of consensus, that it is not permissible to do this, because that is a kind of toying and tampering with the words of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and treating them in a disrespectful manner. And Allah is the source of strength. (End quote from Qararat Al-Majma` Al-Fiqhi, p. 271)

Acceptable Presentation and Script for Quranic Verses

Shaykh Ibn `Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

I have seen some people writing these verses in ornate letters, and I have even seen someone writing some verses in the form of a bird or animal, or a man who is sitting as if reciting the Tashahhud in prayer, and so on. So they are writing these verses in a manner that is prohibited, by shaping them into images for which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) cursed the one who does that.

Moreover, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed: is it permissible to write verses in a script other than the `Uthmani script or is that not permissible?

They differed concerning that, and there are three views:

1. Some of them said that it is permissible in all cases to write it in whatever script is well-known and according to whatever rules of writing are current at any time or in any place, so long as it is written in Arabic letters.
2. Some of them said that it is not permissible in any case; rather the verses of the Quran may be written in `Uthmani script only.
3. And some of them said that it is permissible to write it in whatever script is well-known and according to whatever rules of writing are current at any time or in any place for children, to train them in pronouncing the Quran correctly, in contrast to the script used for adults of sound mind, for whom it should be written in the `Uthmani script.

With regard to writing it in ornate scripts or in the form of an animal, undoubtedly this is prohibited.

The believer should venerate the Book of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and show respect towards it. If he wants to write something in an ornate style, then he may use other phrases, such as famous proverbs or aphorisms and the like. But with regard to doing that in the case of the Book of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and giving the letters and words of the Quran different shapes for the purpose of adornment, or even worse than that, making them into the shape of an animal or human, then this is reprehensible and forbidden, and Allah is the One Whose help we seek.(End quote from Fatawa Nur `ala Ad-Darb, 4/2)

If these guidelines are followed with regard to this matter, then there is nothing wrong with it.

For more details, please see the following answers:

Hanging Quranic Verses on Walls

Ruling on hanging Surat al-Ikhlas on the rear window of the car as a reminder

Selling posters and frames of Quranic verses

Is it permissible to have the Du`a’ of entering toilet on the door of the bathroom

And Allah knows best.