Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
It is not permissible for one who is in a state of impurity to touch the Mus-haf without a barrier, according to the view of the majority of jurists, because of what is mentioned in the letter of `Amr ibn Hazm which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) wrote to the people of Yemen, in which it says that no one should touch the Quran except one who is in a state of purity.
Narrated by Malik (468), Ibn Majah (793) and al-Bayhaqi (1/87).
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: A number of leading scholars regarded the hadith about the letter mentioned as authentic, not on the basis of its chain of narrators, but because it is widely known. Ash-Shafa`i said in his Risalah: They did not accept this hadith until it was proven to them that this letter was indeed sent by the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Ibn `Abd al-Barr said: This letter is widely known among the scholars of the Prophet’s Biography (Sirah), and its contents are known to the scholars, to the extent that the fact that it is widely known means that it does not need an isnad (chain of narrators), because it is almost mutawatir in its narration [meaning that it was narrated by so many from so many that it is inconceivable that they could all have agreed on a lie], and people accept it and are aware of it.(At-Talkhis al-Habir 4/17).
Shaykh al-Albani classed the hadith as authentic in Irwa’ al-Ghalil, 1/158.
Secondly:
With regard to touching a part (juz’, sipara) of the Mus-haf, that is also not permissible [without wudu], as is the case with regard to touching the entire Quran, and there is no difference between them. It says in Majma` al-Anhur (1/26): It is not permissible to touch a coin on which there is a surah, such as Surat al-Ikhlas. Al-Baqani said: If he had said: on which there is a verse, that would be more appropriate, because it is applicable to all situations. If he had stated that in general terms, like what we have stated above, then there would have been no need to discuss this issue. End quote. But I say: if he had said: if there is anything of Quran, that would have been more appropriate, whether it was a verse or less, because most of the jurists regard what is less than a verse as coming under the same ruling, and this is the correct view. The reason why he specifically mentioned a surah is because surahs are written on some coins, such as Surat al-Ikhlas and other surahs. End quote.
An-Nawawi said in Al-Minhaj, p. 11: It is prohibited for one who is in a state of impurity to pray, circumambulate the Ka`bah, carry a Mus-haf or touch its pages, and the same applies to touching its cover according to the correct view, and touching a box in which there is a Mus-haf, and what is written to teach Quran, such as boards or slates, according to the more correct view. End quote.
Al-Mardawi said in Al-Insaf (1/223): Note: the apparent meaning of the author’s words is that it is not permissible for a child to touch it.
Sometimes he touches the Mus-haf, which is not permissible according to the madhhab, and that is also the view of our companions… And sometimes he touches what is written on the slate or board, and that is not permissible either, according to the correct view… And sometimes he touches the board or slate, or carries it, which is permissible according to the correct view. End quote.
Conclusion: there is no difference between the complete Mus-haf and the Mus-haf which has been divided into parts to make it easier to hold it and recite from it. All of them are Quran, and the parts are still called a Mus-haf and come under all the same rulings as a complete Mus-haf.
But the Maliki jurists granted a concession in educational settings allowing touching the boards or slates, and anything that has Quran written on it. So they granted a concession to both the teacher and the student in a teaching situation, allowing them to touch the Quran without being in a state of purity, because of their need to touch it repeatedly and the difficulty of doing wudu for that. In fact, they granted a concession allowing a student to touch the complete Quran without wudu, and they even allowed that for a female student who is menstruating.
This concession, in their view, applies only when learning, memorizing and teaching, not when reciting as an act of worship.
Ad-Dardir al-Maliki said in Ash-Sharh al-Kabir: Being in a state of impurity does not prevent one from touching or carrying a dirham or dinar on which there is Quran. Therefore it is permissible for one who is in a state of impurity – even a state of major impurity – to touch it, and it is not disallowed to touch a tafsir, so it is permissible even for someone who is junub to touch it. And it is not disallowed to touch a board or slate for a teacher or a student in a classroom, and other similar situations in which one is compelled to touch it, such as carrying it to a house, for example, because of the difficulty in doing wudu, and that applies even if the teacher and student are both menstruating. But that is not permissible for one who is junub, because he is able to remove that impediment, unlike one who is menstruating.
And it is not disallowed to touch or carry part of the Quran, or even a complete Quran, according to the correct view, for a student or a teacher, according to the correct view, even if he has reached the age of puberty or [she] is menstruating. But this does not apply to one who is junub. End quote.
Ad-Dasuqi said in his commentary: With regard to a student, this applies even if he is aware that he is not in a state of impurity, if he is reviewing it with the intention of memorizing it, such as a student who makes mistakes when reciting, so he keeps the Mus-haf with him when reciting from memory, so that when he makes a mistake he can refer to it, as our shaykh said. End quote.
Conclusion:
With regard to the ruling on touching the Mus-haf, there is no difference between a complete Mus-haf and the Mus-haf that has been divided into parts (juz’, sipara), whether they are small or large. One who is in a state of impurity is not allowed to touch any of that, according to what we have noted above.
But some of the scholars granted a concession allowing one who is in a state of impurity to touch the Mus-haf when learning, teaching, memorizing or studying, but not when reciting it as an act of worship.
However, the one who needs to do that can read a Mus-haf which also contains tafsir (commentary), or read from a cell phone or other digital device on which the Quran is stored.
See also the answer to question no. 118244.
And Allah knows best.
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