Q545 :Is it permissible to present a copy of the
Qur’an to a non-Muslim? In this connection, what do the Verses 77-79 of
Surah – 56 mean? Why did Umar’s sister insist that he performed
ablution before she gave him the scroll of the surah entitled Taha,
when he was still a non-Muslim?
A545 : Some scholars argue that it is not
permissible to give the Qur’an to non-Muslims. They fear that
non-Muslims may not respect the Qur’an or may ill use it. If we suspect
that a particular person may ill-use the Qur’an, it is certainly not
permissible to give that person a copy of it. On the other hand, if we
feel that the person concerned will treat the Qur’an with due respect
and wants to read it in order to understand it, then we can give it to
him. The Prophet sent messages to rulers of neighboring states and
included in his letters verses from the Qur’an, knowing that those
rules were not Muslims. We should not forget in this connection that
Qur’an is applicable to all mankind and we have to make it known to
them. It is our duty to convey the message to them and to call on them
to adopt Islam. Therefore, if we find that some of them want to learn
more about Islam, the best source from which to acquire that knowledge
is the Qur’an. The verses to which you refer may be rendered in
translation as follows : “This is indeed a noble Qur’an, contained in
a well-guarded Book, which none but the purified may touch.” Many
scholars say that ‘the purified’ refers to the angels whom Allah has
made pure. They alone can touch the well-guarded Book in which the
Qur’an is written in heaven. Some people take these verses to mean that
only after one performs ablution, one may hold the Qur’an in his hand.
But the Qur’anic verse does not seem to support this view since having
an ablution is an act of purification which a man chooses to perform.
He does not benete “purified” as a result of it. The purification to
which the Qur’anic verse refers is something done by Allah. Hence, it
is a reference to angels. The incident to which you have referred
occurred when Umar, receiving the news that his sister and
brother-in-law have benete Muslims, went to see his sister, threatening
to kill her. At that time, Umar was still a non-believer. His
brother-in-law went into hiding in his own home, while Umar’s sister,
Fatimah, opened the door. She admitted that she was a Muslim and Umar
struck her on her face. The blow was hard and there was blood on
Fatimah’s face. Despite his strong norms, Umar was kind-hearted. He
felt sorry for his sister as he saw her bleeding. He demanded that she
give him the scroll from which she was reading. She told him that
because he was a non-believer, he could not touch it until he had
ablution. He went and washed. She gave him the scroll to read. He was
surprised by its powerful logic and accepted Islam. We cannot take
this incident as a basis to formulate any rules about the conditions in
which non-believers can handle the Qur’an. Fatimah acted in the spur of
the moment. Most probably, she wanted her brother to cool down before
he read the Qur’an. She felt that if he washed his face and hands that
would have wonderful effect on him. She was right. She did not mean
that he will be purified by the ablution, because nonbelievers cannot
be purified that way. Ablution does not mean a thing if a non-believer
performs it. The fact that the Qur’an describes non-believers as impure
means only mental impurity which is not removed by ablution. It is
removed by acceptance of Islam. On the other hand, ablution is a mental
purification for Muslims which puts them in the right frame of mind to
address Allah in their prayers.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )