Answered by Sidi Salman Younas
Question: Would you be able to tell me about the permissibility of having iphone applications like the Quran or Tafsir on one’s phone. What if I have to visit the lavatory and I have no place to leave my phone during these times except in my trouser or jacket pocket?
Answer: assalamu `alaykum
This would be permitted. However, caution should be exercised in order maintain the inviolate nature of the Qur’an. One should not, for example, touch the actual verses on the screen without being in a state of ritual purity.
As for visiting the toilet, defined as the place where one relieves oneself, then you should turn off the application before entering the lavatory and place the phone into your pocket. The dislikedness of taking the Qur’an into the lavatory, or any other name religiously inviolable such as “Allah”, is when the object is unconcealed. [Tahtawi, Hashiya `ala Maraqi al-Falah]
Wasalam
Salman
Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani
ثم محل الكراهة إن لم يكن مستورا فإن كان في جيبه فإنه حينئذ لا بأس به وفي القهستاني عن المنية الأفضل أن لا يدخل الخلاء وفي كمه مصحف إلا إذا اضطر ونرجو أن لا لا يأثم بلا اضطرار اهـ وأقره الحموي وفي الحلبي الخاتم المكتوب فيه شيء من ذلك إذا جعل فصه إلى باطن كفه قيل لا يكره والتحرز أولى