What is the ruling on a Muslim who finds a Mus'haf (copy of the Quran) in an impure place but does not pick it up and goes about his business? Is he to be judged as an apostate, knowing that whoever intentionally throws a Mus'haf into an impure place has exited the religion?

If a Mushaf (copy of the Qur’an) is found discarded in a dirty place, it is obligatory to pick it up. Leaving it there, while knowing about it and being able to pick it up, is considered kufr (disbelief) by the fuqaha (jurists), because persistence in an act is like initiating it. This includes throwing it into filth or leaving it therein. The Mushaf, parts of it, Hadith Qudsi, Prophetic Hadith, and the names of Allah and the Prophets are treated with the same reverence. It is also impermissible to place the Mushaf on a limb or garment that is ritually impure, even if the physical impurity has been removed but its ritual defilement remains. Whoever intends this initially, or leaves it there after knowing about it, has committed riddah (apostasy).