There is nothing wrong, as far as Islamic Shari`ah is concerned, in burning papers containing religious writings to dispose of it. However, this should be done under strict supervision and in a safe way.
Elaborating on how to dispose of papers containing religious texts, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states: “Once, we are done with papers or magazines with writings of Qur’anic verses or prayers or Names of Allah, etc., we must not simply throw them or discard them as we would do with any other ordinary stuff; rather we must dispose them off in a respectable manner.
the ideal way of disposing such materials off is by shredding them and then trashing them. If that is not possible, then the next best thing to do is to trash them after cutting and slicing them into tiny pieces.
Burning is not recommended as it may be highly risky especially indoors. If, however, it is extremely safe to so, and, once done under strict supervision, there is no harm in burning them.”
Sheikh `Atiyyah Saqr, former Head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, adds: “As far as Islam is concerned, there is nothing wrong in burning the papers that contain religious texts or verse/s of the Qur’an as a way of keeping them from being subject to desecration. It is reported that `Uthman ibn `Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered for the burning of copies of the Qur’an that were different from the authenticated and the accepted one. This was meant to protect the Qur’an from any attempt of distortion.”