In this article, we will discuss about what are the rulings on these questions according to the islamic scholars. Wether it is permissible or not? If permissible then what are the reasons behind and vice versa. I assume that by the end of this article you will have a clear vision to all of your questions and doubts. Though anything in this article is not my understanding of the concerned questions but is the view of islamic scholars, school of thoughts, Hadith,etc. Stay on this article till the end to know it all.
Holding/looking at the Qur’an/mobile during the salah is an issue that there is a difference of opinion among the Muslim scholars. And this is the position of Shahfiyah and a narration from imam Ahmed (RH), even though the Maliki dislikes it and Hanafi are a bit strict about it.
In the taraweeh is it permissible to hold the quran and read from it?
As far as holding the Quran /mobile phone while taraweeh, there are two different rulings:-
When imam is concerned.
When people praying behind the imam are concerned.
As far as the imam is concerned, according to most of the scholars, holding musaf in the hand, it is permitted and reason for this, is a hadith in the Saheeh Al Bukhari Volume1,that Hazrat AISHA(MAY ALLAH BE PEACE WITH HER) one of her slave by the name of zaqwan, he used to lead in ramzan in the taraweeh by holding the Quran.
According to imam al zuhri(RH) one of the great scholar among the successors. ( كان خيارنا يقرؤن في المصاحف)the best among us used to hold the musaf and read from it.
According to imam Abu Hanifa (may allah have mercy on him) he says that it is not permitted. And he gives reason the excessive movement, because when you hold the musaf and turning the pages, there is excessive, unnecessary movement that invalidates the salah.
Also it has been seen in Mosque that there is a pattern in which few Hafiz-e-Quran stands behind the imam in taraweeh prayer to listen to the imam and to recite the Quran if the imam forget at any point so as to give the luqma(what we address in local language) and to also vouch any mistake. So as they considered holding the musaf impermissible.
According to imam Hanifa(RH) holding musaf/mobile while praying is prohibited.
Now as far as the people praying behind imam is concerned, scholars say it is not rcommended. It is maqruh to hold the musaf. Because if he doesn’t hold and if he concentrate on Qur’an he can concentrate better and he can do better ibadah.
Also You will be abandoning a number of sunnah,
The 1st Sunnah is listening to imam. because you are reading, you can’t listen.
The 2nd sunnah is that in prayer you should be looking at the place of the prayer and you aren’t doing this, but reading in the quran.
The 3rd Sunnah is that when standing the sunnah is to put the right on the left on the chest but now you are not putting your right because you are carrying the musaf ,and at the same time you’ll be distracting those standing next to you. Because everytime you turn the pages and open the Qur’an there are movements, that you’re making.
And finally when you prostrate while Holding the Quran and so they put their fist with the Quran held and their palm of the other hand and this is wrong you have to prostrate on both your palms. Some of them put it under their arms but then their prostration wouldn’t be complete.
How To Pray While Holding The Qur’an/mobile In Hand?
You just put your left arm on your chest and your right arm in front of it and read from it. once you do ruku or sujood, you could have a chair next to you put it on the chair and make your ruku and sujood when stand up pick the musaf again to avoid disrespect.
Other rulings as per some of the scholars other than mentioned above of holding the Quran /mobile phone and praying from it during salah ?
Praying while holding the musaf is either one of two cases -:
The first case is, it is during the obligatory prayers and the foundation of this is that it is not permissible except if it is a necessity. Because holding the musaf will cause extra, unnecessary movement during the prayer, so it is not permissible to hold the mushaf during the obligatory prayers. Nothing from this is established unless if there is a necessity.
Hence in the above paragraph it is pretty clear that it is best to follow what is recommended i.e, to not hold musaf while praying.
The second case is during the supererogatory prayers and this is less than the obligatory. And it is permissible to hold the musaf while praying the supererogatory prayers.
However which is better for him is that if he doesn’t need it then he prays without reading from the musaf, especially if he is praying behind the iman like the one who prays taraweeh, for example. This is because during the tarweeh this causes extra movement and it will make him read behind the imam in other than Al Fatihah and this difference is not befitting.
What is better is that he doesn’t hold the musaf if he is praying behind the imam, he should concentrate on the recitation.
Now besides these points, there are few Hadith that i have came accross while i was trying to answer these questions related to permissibility of holding the Musaf in hand.
The first Hadith was of the Humbly Mother that i have mentioned above. There is Hadith which is there in Bukhari in which imam Bukhari is narrated in the muallaq that is in volume 1-chapter no 54, that means it is not part of saheeh al bukhari where the Hadith are numbered, but it is then the chapter. It may not have the same high level of all the criteria of Bukhari, but its a Saheeh Hadith. This Hadith in which there is a mention of slave zaqwan, some scholars find it permissible to hold the quran while praying.
We find the Hadith of the Prophet’s Muhammad SAW (MAY PEACE BE UPON HIM) that our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW held his grand daughter omaima while offering salah. Holding a child there is no movement as compared to holding a musaf. So according to this, some of the scholars said that there is no problem except for imam Abu hanifa and Hanafi school of thought.
Few questions
Is it permitted to hold the translations (Tafseer-e-Quran) while in taraweeh or salah?
As far as looking for English translation or Tafseer-e -Quran while in tarweeh is concerned, it is completely prohibited. You will say why ? It is the translation only. Let us understand why it prohibited and maqruh.
It is prohibited Because translation is not Allah’s word but is someone’s understanding of Quran. Also translation is not the Arabic portion and in taraweeh or salah you can only read the arabic portion. Sometimes the case arises when someone wants to read in order to understand what the imam is saying. In this case-
Firstly, it is recommended to not to do so, but to listen to the imam reciting the quran. It will increase your khushuo. So if you’re holding the translation of Quran care should be taken that you should not read it. You can only see and read it through your eyes but avoid to move your lips. If you move your lips and you read in English what you’re reading that will invalidate the salah, so care should be taken.
The best way is to follow what is recommended, that is to not hold Translation as it is considered maqruh.
Try to learn Arabic as a language, by doing this you can do tadabbur e quran and tatazaqqur-e-quran.
- Can we read Transliteration of the Quran?
Many people asked this question as well. There are various people who didn’t know Arabic as a language. They found it difficulty to read the Arabic language and so they opt for transliteration (in which what you pronounce is written with English alphabets) to read Surah, the Al Qur’an. As far as reading from transliteration is concerned Scholars and Ulema’s didn’t liked it. The reason being that they consider Transliteration is a manipulation. However it may vary to scholars to scholars. But emphasis should be laid on learning Arabic as a language. So that if a person properly knows the alphabets, sounds they produce, how to pronounce, where to pause, breathe and so many of things it will be best to recite the Quran.
Also if a person doesn’t know, he/she can take help of it. But for a shorter period of time, and should then learn Arabic properly from a teacher or Hafiz-e-Quran.
Again as like the translation, transliteration is also not Allah’s SWT word.
- The question arises that what if a new Muslim is willing to pray while holding the Quran or Mobile Phone in prayers ?
Answer to this is, If we assume that there is a new Muslim and he is able to read Arabic, however he hasn’t memorized anything and he wants to pray by himself, in this case there is no problem to hold the mushaf or read from a paper.
Or he can read Al Fatiha during the obligatory prayers untill he didn’t memorized the Surah needed for the salah.
Best is to make efforts to memorize the surah as soon as possible so that you can add value to your prayers. Allah SWT puts such a miracle in the Al- Quran which makes it easy for people to memorize or hifz the Quran.
We can say that best are those who can read the Quran. Try to memorize it. If not whole it is better to memorize some of the surah of the Qur’an. There is nothing better than to hear the imam reciting the Qur’an and by coming closer to Allah SWT with khushoo. Thus, it is not recommended for the Muslim’s to read from the Quran/mobile while salah, except when there is a necessity.
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