Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: Do I need to have wudu to read the English translation of the Qur’an?
Answer: There is a difference of opinion in the Hanafi school.
The stronger and more precautionary position is that it is obligatory to be in a state of ritual purity to touch even a translation of the Qur’an.
Yet according to a more expansive position, it is permitted to touch a translation of the Qur’an without being in a state of ritual purity.
The way of mindfulness (taqwa) and thus resultant veneration (ta`dhim) is clear. Allah Most High says, “Whoever honours God’s symbols shows the piety of their hearts.” [22.32]