You are asking for a religious trouble (fatwa), if you are Muslim, using verses ("aayats") from the Koran as ringtones on your mobile phones! Ashraful Madaris, an Islamic seminary in Kanpur city of India, has issues a fatwa on using Quranic ringtones on mobile phones.

Ashraful Madaris has stated that it is a sin to use “aayats” (verses from the Quran) as ringtones and answer the phone calls during “aayats”. According to the Muslim organization, Muslims are prohibited to use ringtones from Quran on their mobile phones; Muslims are forbidden to mobile phones during “aayats” or prayers, as the acts degrade the Quran.

Ashraful Madaris has denounced the use of mobile phones with Quranic ringtones in toilets. The Islamic seminary has ruled that it’s sin to hear “aayats” in toilets. According to the Islamic seminary, the practice of keeping mobile phones on vibration mode while performing prayers is religiously unacceptable.        

Ghyasuddin, a senior cleric with the Islamic group Jamia Ashraf-ul-Madaris has said, "Listening to aayats partially is anti-Islamic. This kind of action amounts to a gunah (sin)." According to Ghyasuddin, "If the phone rings and an aayat can be heard in the toilet, it is a sin."

“Fatwa” is an Islamic legal decree issued by Islamic scholars having wide knowledge of the Sharia law. The recent fatwa on mobile phones issued by Ashraful Madaris is not the first one; such fatwa was also issued three years ago by India’s main Islamic seminary in Deoband, Darul Uloom, which directed the Muslims not to use Quranic aayaat (verses) as ring tones. The Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband asked the Muslims not to download verses (Aayats) from the Koran as ringtones.

Mohammad Asumin Qazmi from Deoband seminary had said, “The verses of Quran are sacred and cannot by any account be used for the purpose of entertainment. The matter has been raised many times in our meetings. So it was necessary to give a general instruction. There are occasions when the cell phone rings during prayer. On occasions, the phone holder would be at a place not considered sacred or congenial. We don’t recite Quran verses at those places.”