This will probably touch somewhat on the philisophical aspects of the topic more than clear evidence from our sacred resources.
We all know how we treat the mushaf, with great respect and it is regarded as sacred. What I was musing is whether it is the fact that we can process the information in the pages of the mushaf that causes us to assign respect and reverence to it.
Would we treat a data store, such as a CD or computer, which otherwise would contain unintelligble knowledge unless we had the means to process it? Would the mushaf be still respectful and sacred in the hands of one who has no knowledge of what is written in it (I mean say it ends up in a some tribe with no links to the modern world). How important is the medium or how important is the tool which allows the medium to the processed as Quran?
I asked the same question to a scholar. His answer was that The rulings which apply to the book format of Quranic Text ( that is arabic quranic text ) do not apply to CD.
But now when I think of it there is more to it. Like personaly I would still treat a CD with Quranic text in it with respect that is I would not kick it or sit on it etc.
To me there has to be more to it whether in favor or not. Its value lies in how intelligble it is. For someone who is unawares of Quran, what value or sacredness does it hold, at all. Why would CD be different? A written script is only intelligble to one who can read Arabic … similarly a CD with graphic images of Quran is only intelligble to one who has the software to view those images … just a different set of tools … software vs comprehension.
Quran is sacred for all whether he/she understand it or not. BTW, as a muslim, it is the duty for everyone to even try to understand it. I believe irrespective of medium, the respect should be there. Quran in any form whether written on paper, cloth, cd, flash drive, hard drive or whatever form should be given due respect.
Quran is sacred for all whether he/she understand it or not. BTW, as a muslim, it is the duty for everyone to even try to understand it. I believe irrespective of medium, the respect should be there. Quran in any form whether written on paper, cloth, cd, flash drive, hard drive or whatever form should be given due respect.
So what will be acceptable means of disposing it? For instance, sometimes you have calendars or other media with Quranic inscriptions on them. I think just burning them away is the best way of disposing them. Say for instance, a CD, damaging it or incinerating it or if you can simply erase the contents. How do you think it affects someones psyche? People find it easier or it bares less on their conscience when erasing digital data versus something more physical and permanent in nature.
I am not a scholar but I think erasing the data should be fine. Try not to burn your hard drive. that certainly will leave great impression on your psyche. :)
BTW, I don't think properly disposing such writings physically should disturb anyone since such disposing off is done for a purpose.
Here is a thought ... Consider you had top secret files on your Hard Drive .... despite they were immediately readable or not you would still savour them ...
Likewise the Qur'an should be protected, even if it lies in the heart of a person ... that person altogether becomes very valuable to us ... or Hafiz of Qur'an should be as such to us.
When parchments of Qur'an became unreadable or copied and older pages were disposed the methods involved:
a) Burying
b) Throwing in flowing water
c) Burning
Burning something with Qur'an on it in any form is acceptable if it's useful purpose has been surpassed or been replaced with something better. However, I'm getting this out of my reasoning ... follow the muftis not me ...
Here is a thought ... Consider you had top secret files on your Hard Drive .... despite they were immediately readable or not you would still savour them ...
Likewise the Qur'an should be protected, even if it lies in the heart of a person ... that person altogether becomes very valuable to us ... or Hafiz of Qur'an should be as such to us.
When parchments of Qur'an became unreadable or copied and older pages were disposed the methods involved:
a) Burying
b) Throwing in flowing water
c) Burning
Burning something with Qur'an on it in any form is acceptable if it's useful purpose has been surpassed or been replaced with something better. However, I'm getting this out of my reasoning ... follow the muftis not me ...
So then what do you think about the abundance of ignorance displayed by muslims today when they joyfully are involved in having Quranic ringtones and Quran in other media forms where the carrier of such data could be treated with much carelessness and callousness.
Cell phones are a prime example, many people could have ring tones or entire Surahs which they hear for recitation yet the carrier of such media may be found thrown around anywhere in the house or in places where you would never keep your mushaf. People could be sitting in the restroom chatting on their cell phone where as it contains exerpts from our holy scripture, same goes for laptops.
The Sahabah used to recite so much tasbih that it became habitual to them. When going to the call of nature they used to put stones in their mouths to prevent themselves from tasbih ... likewise when going to the toilet audible recitation in any form is wrong. But since ringtones means that incomplete ayah are often heard and also you mentioned phones are left lying around then people should better not store in those media forms.
An mp3 Qur'an is more like a mushaf than a hafiz of Qur'an because in the case of the other two one can separate from them, but a hafiz cannot put his memory to the side before entering the toilet.
