Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Karim Yahya, SunniPath Academy Teacher
If someone follows the Shafi”i madhhab but makes wudu,
ghusl and salah according to the Hanafi madhhab, is it necessary for him to make wudu and ghusl according the Shafi’’i madhhab if he wants to touch the Qur’an-i-Karim?
There are some circumstances where following other than one’s own school is lawful and some where it is unlawful. Section W14.0 of The Reliance of the Traveler quotes a fatwa from Shaykh Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, Allah’s mercy be upon him, which mentions them.
Read this, and then ask your heart which scenario fits your case.
If it is lawful for you to follow another school in this question, then you must follow it in everything to do with the question. The proper way to do this can only be known by asking someone knowledgeable in that school.
As for the Shafi’i School, in the opinion of our Imams one must be free of both the states of major and minor ritual impurity, as defined by our school, to touch the Qur’an.
Abdul-Kareem.
Abdul-Kareem Yahyaa has been studying at the hands of Habib Umar and his older brother Habib Mashhour, the two sons of the late Habib Muhammad Bin Salim Bin Hafiz as well as the other teachers of Dar al-Mustafa in Tarim, Hadramaut, since Rajab of 1419 H. He has been given permission to answer these questions and teach Shafi’I fiqh, Arabic Grammar, and other disciplines by his Shaykh Habib Umar Bin Muhammad Bin Salim Bin Hafiz, Allah preserve him.