Respect for the Qur’an

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi (r.a.) wrote, in his at-Tibyan fi Adab Hamalat al-Qur’an, “Muslims have consensus that it is obligatory to protect, and respect the muswhaf.  Our Shafi’i companions and others have said that if a Muslim places it, Allah (s.w.t.) is our Refuge, in a garbage receptacle, he becomes a disbeliever.  They said that it is unlawful to use the muswhaf as a headrest; indeed, it is unlawful to use any book of knowledge as a headrest. 

If someone is presented with a muswhaf, it is recommended that he stand.  Since it is recommended to stand for the meritorious scholars and elite, it is even more appropriate with regard to the Qur’an. 

We related in the Musnad of ad-Darimi with a rigorously authenticated chain of narrators that ibn Abu Mulaykah said that ‘Ikrimah ibn Abu Jahl (r.a.) would place the muswhaf on his face and say, ‘My Lord’s Book!  My Lord’s Book!’”