Is the Quran fireproof?

[Sakeenah]

Burning
Most Islamic scholars agree that burning old copies of the Quran, in a respectful manner in a clean place, is acceptable as a last resort.

In this case, one must ensure that the burning is complete, meaning that no words are left legible and the pages have been fully destroyed. At no time should a Quran be burned with the regular trash. Some add that the ashes should then be buried or scattered in running water (see above).

The permission for this practice comes from early Muslims, at the time of Caliph Uthman bin Affan. After the official, agreed-upon version of the Quran had been compiled in a consistent dialect of Arabic, the official version was copied while the old or nonconforming Qurans were burned respectfully.

Correct and Respectful Ways to Dispose of the Quran

~~

<QUESTION>
How does one get rid of unwanted religious literature, such as religious books, leaflets with the name of Allah, etc? Also, please state the ruling on what should be done to the copies of Qur’an that are no longer in a useable state:

<ANSWER>
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
With regards to getting rid of unwanted religious and Islamic literature, the great classical Hanafi jurist (faqih), Imam al-Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“Books that are no longer benefited from, one should wipe away the names of Allah, His Angels, and His Messengers, and burn the rest. There is also nothing wrong with casting them into a flowing river as they are (i.e. without wiping away those names) or burying them, and this (burying them) is better.” (Radd al-Muhtar ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar, 5/271)

Thus, if one decides to dispose of religious literature, the best thing would be to bury it by wrapping it in something pure first, in a place where people would not normally walk. It would also be permitted to tie the books and papers with something heavy and cast them into a flowing river. Alternatively, the literature may be burnt, but in this case, only after erasing the names of Allah, His Angels and His Messengers.

How to get Rid of Unwanted Islamic Literature? | daruliftaa.com

~~

How much efforts should muslim put in to preserve the old copies of Quran? This certainly requires resources and expertise in preservation. There are many old copies of Quran in various libraries and homes but they are all dusted and in bad condition. How one should act in this situation where there is a desire to save such Mushaaf?.

[...]

1-

Burning, i.e., burning old copies of the Mus-haf in a careful and respectable manner, in a clean and safe place, whilst ensuring that the words are consumed by the fire and the pages are changed.

The scholars based this view on what ‘Uthmaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) did with the Mus-hafs that differed from what the Sahaabah were unanimously agreed upon. Al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) narrated (hadeeth no. 4987) from Anas ibn Maalik that ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) ordered Zayd ibn Thaabit, ‘Abd-Allaah ibn al-Zubayr, Sa’eed ibn al-‘Aas and ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn al-Haarith ibn Hishaam to make copies of the Mus-hafs. ‘Uthmaan said to the three Qurashi men: If you differ with Zayd ibn Thaabit concerning anything of the Qur’aan, then write it in the dialect of Quraysh, for it was revealed in their tongue. They did that, then when they had copied the pages in Mus-hafs, ‘Uthmaan returned the pages to Hafsah, and he sent to each country one of the Mus-hafs that they had copied, and he ordered that all other copies of the Qur’aan on pages or in books be burned.

Ibn Battaal (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

This hadeeth shows that it is permissible to burn books which contain the name of Allaah, and that this is a kind of respect to them and protects them from being trampled underfoot. ‘Abd al-Razzaaq narrated via Tawoos that he used to burn letters that contained the Basmalah when he had collected a good number of them, and ‘Urwah did the same, but Ibraaheem regarded that as makrooh.

Ancient copies of the Qur’aan - islamqa.info


Allahu Akbar!​

I was expecting someone to use this to justify burning of the Quran.

Papers,books with Allah's names or verses are burned,buried or thrown into sea,river or lakes. This is done when for example a copy of the Quran is very old and can't be preserved anymore. Islamically we aren't allowed to throw anything in the bin that has Allah's name on it or that contain Quran verses. This is because we don't want it to end up in impure places. There's a big difference between burning a Quran out of hate and burning an old copy that can't be preserved anymore.

 

[Rival]

I was expecting someone to use this to justify burning of the Quran.

Papers,books with Allah's names or verses are burned,buried or thrown into sea,river or lakes. This is done when for example a copy of the Quran is very old and can't be preserved anymore. Islamically we aren't allowed to throw anything in the bin that has Allah's name on it or that contain Quran verses. This is because we don't want it to end up in impure places. There's a big difference between burning a Quran out of hate and burning an old copy that can't be preserved anymore.

Yes, I realise this. I was just bringing it up because I think it makes any law against Qur'an burning look a bit silly and ill thought. Really, no-one needs a reason to justify book burning. It will probably always happen.

 

[leibowde84]

I was expecting someone to use this to justify burning of the Quran.

Papers,books with Allah's names or verses are burned,buried or thrown into sea,river or lakes. This is done when for example a copy of the Quran is very old and can't be preserved anymore. Islamically we aren't allowed to throw anything in the bin that has Allah's name on it or that contain Quran verses. This is because we don't want it to end up in impure places. There's a big difference between burning a Quran out of hate and burning an old copy that can't be preserved anymore.

I think that, legally speaking, everyone should be able to express their ridicule, criticism, and complaints about religious beliefs, traditions and organizations in any way that is not violent. Some may claim that burning a Quran out of hate is inciting violence, but that is a cop out. Any form of speech, even burning sacred documents and scriptures, should only be met with more speech. If someone acts out because of the burning of any scripture, that is 100% on them. And, it speaks volumes about their inability to control themselves.

That being said, I don't support the burning of any books, as it seems like a very foolish way of making a point. But, we cannot allow ourselves to fall in the trap of giving religion special treatment when it comes to freedom of expression.

 

[Sakeenah]

I think that, legally speaking, everyone should be able to express their ridicule, criticism, and complaints about religious beliefs, traditions and organizations in any way that is not violent. Some may claim that burning a Quran out of hate is inciting violence, but that is a cop out. Any form of speech, even burning sacred documents and scriptures, should only be met with more speech. If someone acts out because of the burning of any scripture, that is 100% on them. And, it speaks volumes about their inability to control themselves.

That being said, I don't support the burning of any books, as it seems like a very foolish way of making a point. But, we cannot allow ourselves to fall in the trap of giving religion special treatment when it comes to freedom of expression.

I think burning religious scriptures is disrespectful and hateful but I don't support any violence,like you mentioned it should be met with speech. There's a muslim organization in the UK who responded to the 2010 burn a Quran day by distributing thousands of books called Quran: a small selection of verses in London.They also had a literature stall on Oxford Street presenting Islam to the wider community. I personally think what they did was the right response.
iERA Responds to Burn a Koran Day

 

[leibowde84]

I think burning religious scriptures is disrespectful and hateful but I don't support any violence,like you mentioned it should be met with speech. There's a muslim organization in the UK who responded to the 2010 burn a Quran day by distributing thousands of books called Quran: a small selection of verses in London.They also had a literature stall on Oxford Street presenting Islam to the wider community. I personally think what they did was the right response.
iERA Responds to Burn a Koran Day

I couldn't agree more. That is the perfect response.

 

[Yerda]

Granted I am no longer a Christian but if I was I would far rather people burned the Bible as a form of confrontation than blow up children, mow innocent people down on the streets and attack them with knives or petrol bombs, etc.

You make it sound like a genuine dilemma. Burn book or blow up children. Oh what to do.

 

[Notanumber]

You make it sound like a genuine dilemma. Burn book or blow up children. Oh what to do.

It is no dilemma for me; after all, I am an atheist so I do not have a dogma to follow.

 

[Ponder This]

"Is burning the Quran a racial hate crime?"

Wouldn't it be "religious hate"? The Qu'ran doesn't belong to a particular racial group of people.

Whether or not it is a "crime" depends on law.

People will do whatever they are permitted to do regardless of the morality of the action.

The article isn't specific about details regarding the Qu'ran burning either. So it's sensationalist journalism rather than informative journalism.