Turning One’s Back Towards the Qur’an in a Large Mosque

Question

In the courtyard of the mosque there is a pool (hawd) whose height above the mosque floor is about two and a half feet. The pool directly faces the mihrab. People keep reciting the Qur’an in the mosque, and some people keep making wudu at the pool, which gives rise to the thought of disrespect to the Noble Qur’an. Is there any way to avoid this disrespect while keeping the pool as it is? And are any limits of nearness and distance specified or not?

Answer

The pool is where the mosque courtyard ends, and it is higher than the level of the courtyard; people inside the mosque or in the courtyard recite with their backs to the pool, facing the qibla, and people make wudu at the pool. In that case this situation is correct in the Shari‘a: the bodies of those reciting form a barrier between the Noble Qur’an and those making wudu.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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