Q: Some passages of the Qur’an are printed on dairy cans or cartons, such as the following passage: ...pure milk; palatable to the drinkers. These cartons are eventually thrown into the garbage after use. Could you please tell me whether or not it is permissible to put words of the Qur'an on cartons and throw them into the garbage after use, so that I can caution the sellers of milk products.May Allah protect you.

The Committee gave the following answer:These people borrow words from the Glorious Qur’an or Hadith without truly intending to quote Qur’an or Hadith. Therefore, they do not add the phrase "Almighty Allah says" or "The Prophet (peace be upon him) said." Sellers just excerpt these passages and put them on their products merely because they like them and find them suitable to advertise the purpose for which these products are used. Thus, they depart in their writings from being Qur’an or Hadith. This is called adaptation and is known among rhetoricians as borrowing - not copying - some words from the Qur’an or Hadith and then transforming the speech into prose or poetry. Therefore, they are not judged the same as Qur’an and its special rulings are not applicable to them, such as the prohibition of carrying or touching the Qur’an by a ritually impure person, or the prohibition of reciting it by a Junub (person in a state of post-sexual ritual impurity). (Part No. 4; Page No. 71) However, it is not proper for a Muslim to adapt any passages from the Qur’an or Hadith for lowly purposes, or to make them into headlines, or a means of publicity for a product or an industry, or any lowly act, for the desecration involved in excerption for such purposes. It is unlawful to throw the sheets, cans, or pots on which these passages are written in a dirty place or use them in a contemptible way. If the passages written and used this way are the same words of the Qur’an, it will be even more grievous. If a person intends by throwing the object bearing words of the Qur’an to desecrate them or belittle their holiness while throwing the object in filth, such person will be committing an act of Kufr (disbelief).May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.