Reading a Braille mushaf during prayer

A blind worshipper's question on reciting in prayer from a mushaf printed in Braille, which Egypt's Dar al-Ifta permitted on conditions. ¹

The questioner said he is visually impaired and wishes to recite in his obligatory and voluntary prayers from a Braille mushaf, to keep his recitation accurate and lengthen his standing. ¹ This, he said, requires continuous movement of the hands and fingertips along the lines and words. ¹

Dar al-Ifta answered that this is permitted for a visually impaired worshipper, whether leading the prayer or praying alone, in obligatory and voluntary prayers. ¹ It held that moving the hand or fingers to follow the lines is movement for the sake of the reading, not movement foreign to the prayer, and does not invalidate it, especially for one who has not memorised the text. ¹ Its conditions were that the other limbs stay as still as possible and that the Braille mushaf has been checked by the committees responsible for reviewing the mushaf and by technical committees for Braille. ¹

Egypt's Dar al-Ifta published this fatwa on its site as no. 8917, dated 9 April 2026, in its prayer category, among the fatwas of Grand Mufti Nazir Ayyad. ¹ The museum records this answer as a historical text attributed to its author; it issues no ruling of its own.