Using parts of quranical expressions in daily life

Question

When i was a child or teen i was told it's not allowed to use Qur'an Verses to make fun of it or change a word to make fun of it. But in Arabic newspaper you often find headlines or Articles which have as a headline a part of a Verse with some interchanged word or words.

For example you have in Surat an-Nissa' (4:11) the following expression:

يُوصِيكُمُ اللَّهُ فِي أَوْلَادِكُمْ ۖ

Allah instructs you concerning your children: ...

And as an Article title i found:

يوصيكم الله في مواطنيكم

Allah instructs you concerning your citizens

My Question(s):

• is such a borrowing of a Qur'an text or maybe a kind of metaphor allowed?
• And are there any references for the use of Qur'an (or Hadith) in a non serious context?
  • And what's the exact stance of Islam about that?

Answer 1

The part of the question about stance viz. ridicule can be answered surely as we are told in the Quran:

And, indeed, He has enjoined upon you in this divine writ that whenever you hear people deny the truth of God's messages and mock at them, you shall avoid their company until they begin to talk of other things - or else, verily, you will become like them. Behold, together with those who deny the truth God will gather in hell the hypocrites, (4:140)

It's not difficult to see that ridiculing the verses of Quran is a deplorable act, even to sit in the company of those who engage in such is blameworthy.

The blame is well when ridicule is established but, the use of an expression from Quran, original or altered, may or may not be construed as ridiculous. One can use some Quranic expression idiomatically without intending disrespect, for example

لَكُم دينُكُم وَلِيَ دينِ (To you is your religion, and to me, my religion.)

which is the Muslim way of saying "let's agree to disagree."

"يوصيكم الله في مواطنيكم" is also an idiom as its literal meaning are not to be taken. One cannot expect the writer to be putting words into God's mouth. Borrowing words of Quran in this manner may be used to set an allegorical reference to the meanings of the verses, superimposed to matters pertaining to citizens.