Is a Quran Chip Treated Like a Physical Mushaf?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

A silicon chip contains the entire Quran, engraved using nanotechnology at a scale invisible to the naked eye and only observable with a microscope.

This chip is sealed within a misbaha bead, rendering it inaccessible to touch. Its sole purpose is to facilitate dhikr, and it is not purported to provide any form of protection.

The following question arises: Does this chip have the same legal status as a mushaf, or is it considered a device for Quranic storage?

What is the appropriate method for carrying it into the washroom? Is its manufacture and sale permissible?

Answer

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The chip is not considered a mushaf but is seen as a storage device, like a memory chip or microfilm, because it does not have readable writing. So, you do not need wudu to handle the misbaha, and you can take it into the washroom while it is sealed.

Making or selling it is allowed as long as it is honestly described as a dhikr aid, does not claim to protect, and is treated with respect.

The Chip Is Not a Mushaf

A mushaf, in the language of the jurists, is the written compilation of the Quran, that is, the Book as gathered in legible script upon its pages.

The rulings of reverence that attach to it, such as the prohibition on the one in a state of minor or major ritual impurity touching or carrying it, are built upon this reality of written, readable text. [Nawawi, al-Majmu’; Misri, Reliance of the Traveller, e8]

What the eye and the hand engage as Quranic writing is what the sacred rulings address.

The chip does not have any writing that people can see or read. Its script is invisible to the naked eye and can only be seen with strong laboratory equipment, and it is sealed so it cannot be touched. To most people, it is simply a misbaha bead, not a page with writing.

Islamic law bases its rulings on what people can normally see and use, not on what only special tools can reveal [Suyuti, al-Ashbah wa al-Naza’ir].

This is why the rules for a mushaf do not apply to things like a phone with the Quran stored on it but turned off, to audio recordings, or to writing that has faded away. Scholars agree that the Quran stored but not displayed is not treated as a mushaf. [Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyya; Islamweb]

In fact, this chip is even further from being a mushaf than a phone, since a phone can show readable verses, but this chip cannot be read by anyone.

Carrying It into the Washroom

Since this object is not a mushaf, the usual rule against taking a mushaf into the washroom does not apply. It is treated like a phone that stores the Quran, which can be taken into the washroom.

Because the chip is hidden inside the bead, there is no etiquette issue. Carrying it sealed in the misbaha, whether in your pocket or on you, is fine.

Manufacturing and Selling It

By default, things and transactions are allowed unless there is proof otherwise. [Suyuti, al-Ashbah wa al-Naza’ir]

Making a storage device to preserve the Quran is not a new act of worship; it is not considered an innovation but a permitted tool.

However, it must still be treated with respect, since the honor here is about meaning and intention, not about a readable page.

A Necessary Condition on the Whole Ruling

This answer depends on the chip staying sealed and being impossible for people to read.

If a future version allows the script to be seen, either with a lens or a display, then the rulings would change to those for a visible, readable Quran. What matters is whether people can actually read the text, not just that the letters exist.

Allah (Most High) says, “That is so. And whoever honors the symbols of Allah, it is certainly out of the piety of the heart.” [Quran, 22:32]

The respect we owe here is for the words of Allah as we intend them in our hearts. We show this respect by keeping the object from disrespect, not by giving it a ruling it does not deserve.

Principle and Practical Guidance

The main rule is that the rulings for a mushaf apply only to the Quran when it is written in a way people can read and recognize.

What people normally see and use decides how it is treated. The chip should be treated with respect, not as a mushaf.

You do not need wudu to hold the misbaha, you can take it into the washroom while it is sealed, and you can make and sell it as long as it is honestly described as a dhikr aid, does not claim to protect, and is kept respectful.

And Allah (Most High) knows best.

[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), where he taught.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Shaykh Muhammad Awama, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has been the Director of the Discover Islam Centre, and for six years, he has been the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has fifteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic podcast, education, and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy Prophetic living and fitness.