What id the ruling on touching the Quran with no tahara? مس المصحف بدون طهارة

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.

As to what follows:

With regards to answering your question we say, success is by Allah Almighty.

Allah says in His Book:

“So I swear by Mawaqi’ (setting or the mansions, etc.) of the stars. * And verily, that is indeed a great oath, if you but know. * That (this) is indeed an honourable recital (the Noble Quran). * In a Book well-guarded. * none can touch it but the purified”[al-Waqiah 56:75-79]

The scholars have differed regarding the pronoun (it) in the word of Allah “none can touch it”

1st: some scholars say the pronoun refers to lawh mahfudh (preserved tablet) meaning to say no one can touch lawh mahfudh except the angels that duplicate and write Allah’s decree.

2nd: others say the pronoun refers to the Quran meaning to say none touches the Quran except the one who are ritually pure. However this opinion is weak.

The correct opinion which is held by many scholars and mufassireen (interpreters of the Quran) is that what is meant by “none can touch it but the purified” is that thelawh mahfudh is only touched by the angles. The verse does not explicitly prove that the Quran is only touched by the purified, except that some scholars said: the verse suggests that the Quran can only be touched by the purified. And how is that?

Allah says: “In a Book well-guarded. * none can touch it but the purified” [al-Waqiah 56:78-79]

If the lawh mahfudh can only be touched by the purified and the Quran is contained in it, then this indicates that the Quran in lawh mahfudh should only be touched by the purified. This is part of the evidence that some scholars call indicative evidence and not explicit evidence.

However, the generality of the scholars who say none can touch the Quran except the purified base their view not on the verse but on the following hadith that necessitates purity before touching the Quran:

 “No one should touch the Qur'an unless he was pure.”[1]

This hadith was mentioned with regard to the famous letter that the Prophet (peace be upon him) sent to Amr Ibn Hazm.

Imam al-Muhadith, Al-Malik Ibn Abdul Barr saidthe acceptance of this hadith by theummah obviates the need to look at its Isnaad.

This means that the contents of this letter were accepted as well as the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): “No one should touch the Qur'an unless he was pure.”

Majority of the scholars are of the opinion that only the purified should touch the Quran while some scholars say: the hadith does not imply an explicit indication because what is meant by pure in the (prophets) saying: “No one should touch the Qur'an unless he was pure.” is a Muslim.

They based their view on what is mentioned in the hadith reported by Abu Hurayra that:

“The Prophet (peace be upon him) came across me in one of the streets of Medina and at that time I was Junub (in a state of impurity). So I slipped away from him and went to take a bath. On my return the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "O Abu Huraira! Where have you been?" I replied, "I was Junub, so I disliked sitting in your company." The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Subhan Allah! (glory be to Allah) A believer never becomes impure."[2] [Bukhari].

So this shows that the hadith:

 “No one should touch the Qur'an unless he was pure.” means that no one touches the Quran unless s/he is a Muslim.

The opinion of the generality of the scholars is what is held by the 4 Imams of Madhahib which is also the generality of jurists from both the earlier and later generations, that is: the one who wants to touch the Quran should purify themself if they want to touch its written pages directly or part thereof like its cover and the like. This view should be held as it seems to be more correct.

A group of scholars like al-Dhahiriyyah and others went on to say it is permissible to touch the Mus’haf even without taharah.

What is more appropriate is for a believer not to touch the Quran unless he is in a state of purity. Whoever has touch the Quran without being pure out of necessity should use a barrier like the edge of his clothing or a handkerchief/tissue or should wear a glove or anything of that sort which will prevent him from touching the Quran directly with no taharah.

And what is meant by tahara here is wudhu (ablution), not mention hadath akbar (sexual impurity). If one is junub or if it’s a menstruating female then s/he should avoid touching the Quran even with a barrier.
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[1]Al-Muwatta’ (469), al-Mustadrak (1447), al-Mu’jam al-Kabir (13039)
[2]Bukhari (283), Muslim (851)