The legal Status of Income from Selling Copies of the Holy Quran

Al-Kāfi|Volume 5|Book 2|Chapter 39
Al-Kāfi

Volume 5, Book 2, Chapter 39

The legal Status of Income from Selling Copies of the Holy Quran

3- أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ ابْنِ فَضَّالٍ عَنْ غَالِبِ بْنِ عُثْمَانَ عَنْ رَوْحِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحِيمِ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللهِ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) قَالَ سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ شِرَاءِ الْمَصَاحِفِ وَبَيْعِهَا فَقَالَ إِنَّمَا كَانَ يُوضَعُ الْوَرَقُ عِنْدَ الْمِنْبَرِ وَكَانَ مَا بَيْنَ الْمِنْبَرِ وَالْحَائِطِ قَدْرَ مَا تَمُرُّ الشَّاةُ أَوْ رَجُلٌ مُنْحَرِفٌ قَالَ فَكَانَ الرَّجُلُ يَأْتِي وَيَكْتُبُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ ثُمَّ إِنَّهُمُ اشْتَرَوْا بَعْدَ [ذَلِكَ] قُلْتُ فَمَا تَرَى فِي ذَلِكَ قَالَ لِي أَشْتَرِي أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِنْ أَنْ أَبِيعَهُ قُلْتُ فَمَا تَرَى أَنْ أُعْطِيَ عَلَى كِتَابَتِهِ أَجْراً قَالَ لا بَأْسَ وَلَكِنْ هَكَذَا كَانُوا يَصْنَعُونَ.
3. Ahmad ibn Muhammad has narrated from ibn Faddal from Ghalib ibn ‘Uthman from Ruh ibn ‘Abd al-Rahim who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah عليه السلام, about buying pages of al- Quran and selling them. He (the Imam) said, ‘Only pages (of al-Quran) were placed near the pulpit. The passage between the wall and the pulpit was no bigger than what a sheep could pass through or a man in a sideways manner.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘A man would come and write down from the pages that were there. Thereafter they bought them.’ I then asked, ‘What do you say about it (buying).’ He (the Imam) replied, ‘I like buying more than selling.’ I then asked, ‘What do you say if I pay for writing al-Quran?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful but in their time that was their way of dealing.’”
  • Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi
    Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (19/83)
  • Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi
    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 304