Hanging Qur'anic verses and animal skins on walls

2-7-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is it permissible to hang Qur'an written in animal skins for decorations on walls?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

Writing Qur'an on animal skin is lawful provided that these skins are pure. The skins of the animals whose meat is lawful to us and who have been slaughtered are pure.
As for Meytah (any animal that has been killed in any way other than slaughtering), its skin becomes pure after being tanned. In fact, the skins of all animals except the dog and the pig become pure when tanned.
As for hanging something that contains some Qur'anic verses on the wall, the scholars of Islam have two different opinions over this issue. Some scholars deny such an action and their reason is that hanging verses on walls decreases the feeling of reverence one has to have towards the Qur'an. The people living in the house get used to seeing this piece of skin hanged on the wall and the great feeling they should have towards the verses on it fades as time goes by. In addition, such verses can be mistreated and mishandled when they fall off the wall or some children play with them or are placed where sins are committed. All this is a mistreatment of the Holy Qur'an, hence contradictory to the purpose for which such verses have initially been hanged.
Other scholars, however, believe that there is no harm in hanging verses on the wall. They justify this by saying that such an act can be a reminder of the Qur'an and a way to make the eyes used to seeing the verses of Qur'an. They also add that a person might read such verses, be influenced by them and as a result perform worship or avoid committing a sin.
But, it is more appropriate - if one wants to hang such verses - to do that in a clean and pure place where no sins are committed.
Allah knows best.