1] Those who do not have wudoo’ or women who are menstruating touching the cover of the Mushaf and books oftafseer

1]
There are Mushafs that have a cover made of thick cloth – is it
permissible to touch themfor one who is not in a state of purity? What
is the ruling on touching theedges of the pages of the Mushaf to turn
the page, as there are those who regard it as permissible tohold it?
When can we say concerning books of tafseer that it is a tafseer that
it is permissible for menstruating women to read from, and when can we
say that it comes under the rulings on Mushafs and it is not
permissible for a menstruating woman to touch it?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
It is not permissible for one who is in a state of impurity to touch
the Mushaf without a barrier, according to the majority of fuqaha',
because of what it says in the letter of 'Amr ibn Hazm that the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) sent to the people
ofYemen, in which its says: "No one should touch the Qur'aan except
one who isin a state of purity." Narrated by Maalik, 468; Ibn Hibbaan,
793; al-Bayhaqi, 1/87. al-HaafizIbn Hajar said: The hadeeth in the
book mentioned was classed assaheeh by a number of imams in terms of
the isnaad and in terms of its been a widely-circulated hadeeth.
Ash-Shaafa'i saidin his Risaalah: They did not accept this hadeeth
until it was proven to them that it was the letter of the Messenger of
Allah (blessings and peaceof Allah be upon him). Ibn'Abd al-Barr said:
This is a letter that is well known to the scholars of seerah (the
Prophet's biography),and its contents are well known to the scholars;
it is so well known that there is no need for an isnaad, because it is
like a mutawaatir report (one that is narrated by so many from so many
that it is inconceivable that they could have agreed upon a lie); this
is why people are aware of it andhave accepted it .
End quote from at-Talkhees al-Habeer, 4/17
The hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inIrwa' al-Ghaleel, 1/158
Secondly:
The covers of the Mushaf that are attached to it [that is, they are
attached to it with adhesive or stitches, etc] come under the same
ruling as the Mushaf itself, so it is not permissible to touch
themwithout wudoo'. The same applies to the edgesof the pages.
It says in al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah (38/7): The majority of Hanafi,
Maalikiand Shaafa'i fuqaha' are ofthe view that it is not allowed for
the one who is not in a state of purity to touch the cover of the
Mushaf that is attached toit, or the margins in whichthere is no
writing on the pages of the Mushaf, or the spaces between the lines,
or the empty pages on which there is no writing at all. That is
because they are part of the page on which Qur'aan is written;
therefore they come under the same ruling as it. Some of the Hanafis
and Shaafa'is are of the view that that is permissible. End quote.
With regard to covers thatare separate from the Mushaf, that is, a bag
in which the Mushaf is placed and taken out of, there is nothing wrong
with touching it without being in a state of purity, even if the
Mushaf is inside it.
It is permissible to touch the Mushaf with a barrier that is separate
from it, such as the bag in which it is placed or gloves and the like.
It says in Kashshaaf al-Qinaa' (1/135): The onewho is in a state of
impurity may carry the Mushaf in its bag or wrapper, without touching
it, because the prohibition has to do withtouching it. Carrying it is
not the same as touching it, and he may look at it and turn the pages
with the edge of his sleeve or astick and the like, such as a piece of
cloth or wood, because then he is not touching it. And he may touch
the Mushaf with a barrier because of what was stated above. End quote.
Thirdly:
It is permissible for the one who is in a state of impurity – minor or
major– to touch books of tafseer according to the majority of fuqaha'.
However there are some who restrict that to booksin which the tafseer
or commentary is greater than what they contain ofQur'aan, whilst
others do not stipulate this condition.
It says in al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah (13/97): It is permissible
according to the majority of fuqaha' forone who is in a state of
impurity to touch books of tafseer even if they contain verses of the
Qur'aan, and to carry them and read in them, even if he is junub. They
said: That is because whatis meant by tafseer is to learn the meanings
of the Qur'aan, not to recite it, sothe rulings on the Qur'aando not
apply in this case. :->