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Stretching out the legs against a respected object

Question

Asallam U alaikum I have a wall hanging that says "There is no conqueror but Allah" in Arabic and English written on it. When a person lies on the bed their feet face the wall hanging however it is a few feet above feet level. There is no Quran on it just those words. Can I keep it there or should I move it away from where the feet will face it as it does have Allaa subhana wa ta alas name however higher than the feet level.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.

Some scholars maintained that it is disliked for the Muslim to stretch out his legs towards a dignified object and deemed it allowable only if this object is placed in a higher level than one’s feet. The Hanafi scholar Ibn Al-Humaam  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him wrote, “It is disliked for the Muslim to stretch out his legs while sleeping or at any other time in the direction of the Qiblah or towards the Mus-haf or Fiqh books unless they are placed at a level higher than his feet...” [Fat-h Al-Qadeer]

Moreover, the Hanbali scholar Ibn Muflih  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him wrote, “Ibn ‘Abd Al-Qawiyy  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him wrote in his book Majma‘ Al-Bahrayn, ‘It is forbidden for the Muslim to recline over the Mus-haf or Hadeeth books and whatever contains something of the Quran according to scholarly consensus.’ Similarly, it is disliked to stretch out the legs towards any of such objects. The Hanafi scholars said that it is disliked, because they contain the names of Allaah and because such an act constitutes disrespect and bad manners.” [Al-Aadaab Ash-Shar‘iyyah]

It should be noted that the language in which these books are written is irrelevant in this case. It does not matter if they are written in Arabic or English. Scholars underlined that the name of Allaah, The Exalted, and the names of the Prophets should be duly honored and respected regardless of the language in which they are written.

However, if this wall hanging is not at the same level of the feet (when sleeping or lying on the bed), there is no problem in leaving it as it is.

Allaah Knows best.

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