Quran Etiquette

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question: Salaam Alaykum,

What is the ruling regarding reading Quran with shoes on. Must the shoes be removed if there is mud or impurity on them? Is it Sunnah to remove the shoes when reading Quran? Jazakallah Khair

Answer: Wa ‘alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

I pray you are well.

It is permissible to recite the Qurʾan with your shoes on. What is we have reverence for the Qurʾan when reciting it.

Cultural Expressions of Respect

There are many practices which entail respect, such as not turning your back to someone distinguished, and in some places these practices were also applied to the Qurʾan. This is why many Indo-Paks, Turks, etc do not turn there backs to a copy of the Qurʾan.

All such practices are praiseworthy, because they emanate from a deep-seated reverence of the Book of Allah. They are, however, mostly cultural, and so subject to change from place to place. Removing one’s shoes before reciting could also be one of these.

Islamic Expressions of Respect

There are other practices which are rooted within the religion, such as reciting the Qurʾan with wudu – even if one is not touching a physical copy, facing the Qiba, cleaning one’s teeth with a miswak before reciting. These practices do not change from place to place.

Permission from the Sunna

Having said that, we have examples of when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, would lie in the lap of his wife ʿAʾisha during her menstrual cycle, and recite the Qurʾan. (Bukhari). This is a beautiful expression of spending quality time with one’s family and imbuing that time with the remembrance of Allah. ʿAʾisha herself would recite her daily portion of the Qurʾan whilst lying down.

Imam Nawawi, in his book al Tibyan, has mentioned the proper conduct of reciting the Qurʾan, and we should try to apply that as much as possible. However, should we see that someone is not facing the Qibla, or is reciting from memory without wudu, or whilst lying down, we should remember that we have permission from the Sunna to do such things.

I hope that helps.

[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. He moved to Damascus in 2007 to study and sit at the feet of some of the most erudite scholars of our time, such as Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh Abdurrahman Arjan, Shaykh Hussain Darwish and Shaykh Muhammad Darwish. In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies in Fiqh, Usul al Fiqh, Theology, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Shama’il, and Logic with teachers such as Dr Ashraf Muneeb, Dr Salah Abu’l Hajj, Dr Hamza al-Bakri, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Dr Mansur Abu Zina amongst others. He was also given two licences of mastery in the science of Qur’anic recital by Shakh Samir Jabr and Shaykh Yahya Qandil. In the presence of Shaykh Ali Hani, he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Qur’anic Sciences, Tafsir, Arabic Grammar, and Rhetoric.