Short answer
You may hold the phone and look at the Quran on the screen, and read it in your mind without moving your tongue. Reciting it, aloud or in a whisper, is still not allowed in the Hanafi school, because the ban is on recitation, not on paper.
Holding or touching a phone with a Quran app open is permitted, since the screen is not a mushaf, though avoiding touching the text itself is better. Reading with the eyes alone is permitted. Reciting with the tongue is haram whatever the device.
Other madhhabs
- Maliki
- Reciting from memory is allowed for a menstruating woman, so reciting from a phone is treated the same.
Explanation
Two separate rulings meet here. The first is touching: a mushaf may not be touched without purity. A phone is not a mushaf. The words appear as light on a screen and disappear when the app is closed, so most Hanafi muftis today say you may hold and swipe the phone. Many advise not touching the part of the screen where the verses are shown, out of respect.
The second is reciting. The Hanafi ban on a menstruating woman reciting the Quran is about the tongue, not the paper. Reciting from a phone, a laptop or memory is the same act, so it is not allowed. Reading with your eyes and following in your heart, without moving your tongue, is allowed.
Useful ways to stay connected:
- Play a recitation and follow along on the screen.
- Read a translation and tafsir to understand what you normally recite.
- Revise your hifz by listening and reading silently.
- Use the time for dua and the morning and evening adhkar.
See reading or touching the Quran on your period for the full ruling and what counts as dua. Our Quran with transliteration and Quran radio are handy for listening.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Waaqia 56:79
لَّا يَمَسُّهُۥٓ إِلَّا ٱلْمُطَهَّرُونَ ﴿٧٩﴾
None touch it except the purified.
The ruling on touching applies to the mushaf, which scholars distinguish from a screen.
Sahih al-Bukhari 305
Sahih... افعلي ما يفعل الحاج غير أن لا تطوفي بالبيت ...
"Do everything the pilgrim does, except do not circle the House until you are pure."
Shows that remembrance of Allah continues during the period.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on menstruation. The prohibition of recitation and of touching the mushaf.
- Fatawa Mahmudiyya, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on menstruation. Modern application of the rulings on recitation and touching.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.