What is the ruling if a menstruating woman or an impure Muslim wants to recite the Holy Qur’an? (By impure I mean a Muslim who needs to perform an ablution only not a purity shower).

Answer

Praise Be to Allah and Peace Be Upon His Messenger.

Initially, Allah has sworn in His book saying: So I swear by the setting of the

Stars. And verily that is indeed a great oath, if you but know. That (this) is indeed an honorable recitation (the Noble Qur’ān). In a Book well‑guarded (with Allah in the heaven i.e. Al‑Lauḥ Al‑Maḥfūẓ). Which (that Book with Allah) none can touch but the purified. Al-Waqi’a 75-79

By this oath, Allah urges Muslims to honor the Holy Qur’an and treat it as a sacred scripture. Imam An-Nawawi said that Muslim scholars have agreed that the Holy Qur’an must be respected and honored. It is haram to disrespect the Holy Qur’an by putting it on the floor, or by putting it in an impure place for example. One should not enter the toilet with the Holy Qur’an.

The majority of Muslim scholars agreed that a Muslim who is impure (whether they need an ablution only or a purity shower) should not touch the scripture of the Holy Qur’an depending on the verse (Which (that Book with Allah) none can touch but the purified.)

And they also depended on the prophetic hadith: “none can touch the Qur’an but the pure.”

However, Ibn Hazm had another opinion. He allowed the Muslim who is impure whether they need an ablution or a purity shower to touch the Holy Qur’an. Imam Ash_Shawkani agreed with Ibn Hazm.

The ruling on reciting the Holy Qur’an by a Muslim who needs an ablution only:

The majority of Muslim scholars allowed a Muslim who needs an ablution to recite the Holy Qur’an. Imam An-Nawawi transmitted this consensus. They depended on the hadith which was narrated by Ibn Abbas as he described the night that Prophet Muhammad spent in his wife Maymona’s house. “The prophet woke up at midnight or a little after midnight. He rubbed the traces of sleep off his face and recited the last ten verses of Al-Imran Chapter. Then, the prophet remembered the ablution and the prayer.” Ibn Hijr commented on this hadith in his book Al-Fath that this is an evidence that the prophet recited verses from the Holy Qur’an before performing an ablution.

 The ruling of reciting the Holy Qur’an by a menstruating woman:

There are two opinions regarding reciting the Holy Qur’an by a menstruating woman without touching it:

The first group decided that she cannot recite any verses, and they depended on what Ibn Omar narrated: “The woman who is menstruating and the one who is seminally defiled must not recite any of the Qur’an.” Muslim scholars graded this hadith as weak.

The other opinion allows menstruating women to recite the Holy Qur’an. Some of scholars who adopted this opinion are Malik, Ahmad, Ibn Taymeyah and Ibn Al-Qayyem.  They depended on the incident when Prophet Muhammad sent a letter to the Roman King calling him for Islam, and the letter included some Qur’anic verses such as “Say (O Muhammad “O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Come to a word that is just between us and you-that we worship none but Allah (Alone), and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allah. Then if they turn away, say: “Bear witness that we are Muslims.” Al-Imran 64.

Thus, if a disbeliever was allowed to touch a letter which included some Qur’anic verses, then why would it be not allowed for an impure Muslim to recite some verses by heart?

Another evidence is that it was narrated that the prophet used to mention Allah at all times. (this included reciting Qur’an.)

It was also narrated that the prophet (PBUH) told his wife Aisha to perform all Hajj rituals but performing the Tawaf.

It is well-known that women have always been menstruating, and it did not happen that the prophet prevented any from reciting the Holy Qur’an.

Scholar Ibn Baz said that there is no harm if the menstruating woman carries an interpretation book to recite the verses from it.