PROTECTING THE QUR’ĂNIC TEXT FROM CONTEMPT
PROTECTING THE QUR‘ĂNIC TEXT FROM CONTEMPT
Dr MuĄammad bin ĂAbd al-ĂAziz al-Musnid*
The Qur’ānic text is a sacred text. There has been complete consensus on this point amongst Muslims in all the epochs of Islamic history. It is a religious duty of every Muslim to protect this text and the material containing it.
As many people intentionally or unintentionally commit contempt of this text or the materially containing it, it has become imperative that Islamic scholars, especially the scholars of the Qur’ān, should explain to the people the many manifestations of the contempt of the sacred text prevalent among Muslims with a view to help them avoid it.
I have thoroughly examined all the intentional and unintentional manifestations of contempt of the Qur’ānic text. These include the contempt of the text and its exegesis, and also the contempt of the material containing it whether it is the mushaf or otherwise.
I have separately discussed both the types of contempt, intentional and unintentional, and have enumerated in detail all the manifestations of contempt supported by sound proofs from the Qur’ān and the Sunnah, rulings of the imāms and great scholars.
In conclusion I have mentioned the results of my investigation and recommendations. I have noticed that ignorance and negligence are mainly to blame for this phenomenon.
And the most important recommendation is that scholars should be asked to educate the people regarding the sanctity of the Qur’ānic text.
* Member, Teaching Staff, King Sa‛ud University, Riyadh.
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