Fatwa ID: 05038

Answered by: Maulana Naieem Mohammad

Question

If a person reads the Quran on the mobile phone, will it be permissible to touch the areas highlighted in red without wudhu or will the whole screen be in the hukm of a mushaf page?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

The words and writing that we see on the screen of a mobile phone are definitely not like the writing on paper.

Every screen image is compiled of very small dots called pixels which are lit up to form images, thus the “writing” is actually never solid like ink on paper.

Thus it will be permissible to touch the screen without wudhu when the Quran app is displayed because the command for having wudhu is applicable to the permanent legible written words of the Quran that may be in a Mushaf (book), page, etc. If we also look at the physical makeup of a phone/tablet screen, there is a shield of glass above the actual screen display, thus even though some may argue that the Quran verses are actual verses on the screen and wudhu is necessary, there is no way of touching the screen directly without firstly removing or breaking the glass shield. Therefore, whichever angle we look at it from, it will be permissible to touch the “Quran” on the mobile phone screen without wudhu.

A believer should however always be in the state of wudhu even though it may not be necessary.

In conclusion, the Quran verses displayed on a phone/tablet screen do not require wudhu to be touched.

Only Allah knows best

Written by Maulana Naieem Mohammad

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham