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158chapter threeThese verses state that the qur"§n is in a concealed book (kit§b maknån). 42It also refers to it as ‘tanzÊl from the Lord of the worlds’, implyingthat after the original qur"§n had been hidden, it was first translatedinto Arabic and then transferred by JibrÊl—orally, not in writing—toMuÈammad (ß). Those ‘who are clean to touch it’ ( al-muãahharån) arein fact angels processing al-tanzÊl, since no human, ritually pure orimpure, could ever touch the original qur"§n. 43 It was a grave mistakeof the traditional exegetes to interpret the above verse of Såratal-W§qi#a within the context of ritual purity:If you are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bath your whole body[ fa-uãahharå]… ( Al-M§"ida 5:6)They ask you concerning women’s courses. Say: They are a hurt anda pollution. So keep away from women in their courses, and do notapproach them until they are clean [ yaãhurn a ]. But when they havepurified themselves [taãahharn a ], you may approach them in any manner,time, or place ordained for you by God. For God loves those whoturn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pureand clean [ al-mutaãahhirÊn]. ( Al-Baqara 2:222)The error occurred when exegetes treated the term ‘those who areclean’ ( al-muãahharån), as in 56:79, as synonymous to ‘those who areritually pure’ ( al-mutaãahhirÊn), as in 2:222 (note that the former isderived from the 2nd verb form, the latter from the 5th verb form;moreover, whereas the latter connotes the practice of ablution beforeprayer performed by the believers, the former is the act of purificationby Allah which cannot be performed by the believers). But whilethose ‘who are ritually pure’ can indeed perform the prayer sincethey have done the ritual ablution, they nevertheless are still unableto touch the original qur"§n because they are not angels. And whilethose ‘who are ritually impure’ can indeed not perform the prayersince this is prohibited by 4:43 and 5:6, they are nevertheless allowedto touch a copy (!) of the qur"§n and recite it whenever they want.Ritual impurity and touching the qur"§n are simply two differentthings, conflated together by unscrupulous tafsÊr exegetes.42YA translates maknån as ‘well-guarded’, which does not fit MS’s rendering. AHis not much closer: ‘a protected record’, nor AB: ‘a well protected Book’; but AA:‘a hidden Book’; MP: ‘a Book kept hidden’; AhA: ‘the well-kept Book’, and MF: ‘ahidden Book’ exactly render the phrase as MS sees it.43See Sårat #Abasa 80:11–16.