A sister from Jeddah asks: I had a lot of Ayaat (verses) from the noble Qur-aan as well as legislated Du’aas, some people told me that it is Haraam (forbidden) to use or keep them and that it is Waajib (compulsory) upon me to burn them. So I burnt them fearing the punishment of Allaah ‘Azza wa Jal. After I burnt some and tore the rest to pieces, I didn’t know what to do with what was left over. Should I burry that or throw it in the trash? I hope that you can direct me and I pray that you are rewarded.

Answer:

All praise is due to Allaah lord of the worlds, and I send Salaat and Salaam upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, companions and whoever follows them with Ihsaan to the Day of Judgment.

The answer to this question is that you can finish burning these papers, which contain Ayaat (verses) from the Book of Allaah ‘Azza wa Jal, that you burnt due to the advice of some people and then burry them because this is better in distancing oneself from demeaning them. Except if you shredded them completely to the point that there are no words left, this would suffice you from burning them. However, she mentioned that she burnt some papers that have some Du’aa in them.

The issue of papers containing Du’aa requires more detail; if they contain legislated Du’aas then keeping them and benefiting from them is better. If they contain unlegislated Du’aas then it is Waajib to destroy them by either burning or completely shredding them.

A questioner may ask: Why have you elaborated on papers that contain Du’aa while you haven’t elaborated about those that contain Ayaat of the Qur-aan?

The answer is that if papers containing Ayaat of the Quraan were to remain [un burnt] they would be exposed to being demeaned even if they were hung up on a wall.

Indeed hanging Ayaat [of the Qur-aan] on walls is not from the legislated affairs that the Salaf As Saaleh (Pious Predecesors - رضى الله عنهم) were upon, and those who practice this are of one of the following state of affairs:

The first is that they are hung seeking Barakah (blessings) in that. This is not legislated because seeking Barakah from the Qur-aan in this manner has not been transmitted from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) or his companions. Affairs that are taken as a form of worship or a means [of getting closer to Allaah] that have not been transmitted from the Messenger of Allaah are not legislated due to the saying of Allaah:

{Indeed there is a good example for you in the Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) for whoever hopes for (the Meeting with) Allaah and the Last Day, and remembers Allaah much.} [Al Ahzaab/21]

Another situation is that they practice this seeking protection; they believe that by hanging these Ayaat they are protected from the Shaytan. This also has no basis in the Sunnah, the practice of the Sahaabah (رضى الله عنهم) or the Salaf as Saaleh. It also has an impermissible issue related to it, and it is that a person may depend on these [Ayaat] and not carry out what he ought to in terms of reading the Ayaat that protect one from the accursed Shaytaan because he would say to himself: Since I have hung Ayatul Kursee in my house, for example, then this would suffice me from reading it, since I have hung Suratul Ihklaas and Al Mu’awadhatayn (Surat An Naas and Al Falaq) then this would suffice me from reading them. There is no doubt that this turns one away from the correct way which is protecting oneself by [reading] the noble Qur-aan. These are two situations.

The third is that one hangs these papers that contain Ayaat in order to be reminded by them. In this situation, even if we presume that there is a benefit in this, the harms are greater. This is because a lot of gatherings have these Ayaat from the Qur-aan but those attending the gathering do not benefit from them. There may be a paper hanging on the wall with the saying of Allaah Ta’aala:

{…And do not backbite one another.} [Al Hujuraat/12]

However you find people who are in the same place backbiting each other, they do not benefit from this Ayah. Being that this Ayah which prohibits backbiting is over their heads while they are backbiting others, this resembles defiance and not caring about Allaah’s prohibitions. You may even find that in some gatherings there is a paper with the saying of Allaah Ta’aalah:

{O you who believe! Remember Allaah much.} [Al Hujuraat/41]

This being the case no one turns to or pays attention to it, no one mentions or glorifies Allaah and this kind of situation occurs a lot.

Therefore little reminder occurs through these papers that are hanged up, furthermore this method of reminder was unknown at the time of the Salaf as Saalih and there is no doubt that their method / guidance is better than ours and more correct. This is why the Prophet (عليه الصلاة والسلام) said:

“The best of people are my generation, then those that came after them, then those that came after them.”

This is also why what this sister did pleases us, by burning the papers which contain Ayaat from the Book of Allaah, and we elaborated on the issue of the Du’aa.

Question: Baarak Allaahu Feekum O Shaykh Muhammad, Do Ahaadeeth take the same ruling O noble Shaykh?

Answer: I hold the opinion that Ahaadeeth are lighter / easier in the ruling than the Ayaat by a lot, however it would be good if people avoided this and there is no harm if they [Hadeeth] remain.

Question: Baarak Allaahu Feekum, what is the ruling upon other than them?

Answer: There is no harm in this because it is usually neither the speech of Allaah or His Messenger.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen

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