Recitation

[Truthseeker]

Assalamu alaikum Sheikh,

What is the ruling regarding recitation of Quran, in terms of:
Is it necessary to have wudhu in order to read or recite Quran from the mushaf?

[Aslam AbuIsmaeel]

Asslamu alaikum

This is an issue that is debated among scholars.

Most scholars said you need wudu to touch Quran (mushaf) although you do not need it to read from it. They cited evidence from hadith that  are not authentic.  Also, from verses of Quran that are beyond a shadow of doubt in terms of authenticity but they are not specific about the topic of contention.  This is the main opinion of the four madh'habs: Abu Hanifah, Malik, Shafee and Ahmed.

A few scholars said that you do not need wudu to touch Quran.  They based on evidences that are not categorical but do lend some support to the issue, such as, the Prophet send letters inviting Rulers/kings to become Muslims, the letters contained some verses of Quran (but not whole Quran) and these letters the Prohet knew would be touched by non-Muslims who do not have wudu etc.  So, this shows, they argued, that it is permissible to read Quran from written text without wudu.  This seems to be the opinion of Imam Bukhari.

Due to the centuries old debate on the matter I'll leave it to you to research more on this issue.  No doubt, if you did wudu before touching then you'd be safe according to both opinions.  If you recited without wudu then some great scholars did believe it to be permissible, as in previous paragraph.

Allah knows best.