Reports on rings

Muhammad bin Malik says: I saw Sayyiduna al-Bara (may Allah be pleased with him) wearing a gold ring. People said to him: "You are wearing a gold ring, while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade it." Sayyiduna al-Bara (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Once we were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and before him were spoils of war, which he was distributing: captives and household goods. The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed it until this ring remained. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his gaze and looked at his Companions, then lowered his gaze; then he raised his gaze and looked at them, then lowered his gaze; then he raised his gaze and looked at them, and then said: "O Bara!" I came to him until I sat down before him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took the ring, then took hold of my wrist and said: "Take it and wear what Allah and His Messenger have given you to wear." The narrator says: Sayyiduna al-Bara (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: "How can you tell me to take off something about which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Wear what Allah and His Messenger have given you to wear'?"
Ahmad recorded it, and Abu Ya'la recorded it in abridged form. The narrator Muhammad bin Malik is the freed slave of Sayyiduna al-Bara (may Allah be pleased with him); Ibn Hibban and Abu Hatim declared him thiqah (trustworthy), but Ibn Hibban says: "He did not hear from Sayyiduna al-Bara (may Allah be pleased with him)." I say: He (Ibn Hibban) declared him trustworthy, and this narrator said: "I saw on Sayyiduna al-Bara (may Allah be pleased with him)", which is an explicit statement (of direct contact). The rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Ammar bin Abi Ammar narrates that Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a gold ring on a man's hand and said: "Take it off." The man took it off, and then he put on an iron ring, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is worse than that." Then the man put on a silver ring, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said nothing to him.
Ahmad recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except that the narrator Ammar bin Abi Ammar did not hear from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).

It is reported about Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) that he put on a gold ring. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at him and showed his displeasure at it, so he took it off. Then he put on an iron ring, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is more vile, this is more vile." He took it off, then he put on a silver ring, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said nothing to him.
Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it.

In one narration of Ahmad the wording is: Concerning the iron ring, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is the ornament of the people of Hell." The narrators of one of Ahmad's two chains are thiqat (trustworthy).

Salim bin Abi al-Ja'd relates from a man of his people (that man said): I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while I was wearing a gold ring. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took a stick, struck my palm with it and said: "Take it off!" He said: I went out from there and took it off. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What became of the ring?" I said: "I threw it away." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I instructed you to benefit from it (that is, to sell it and take its price); you were not to throw it away."
Ahmad recorded it with two chains, and the narrators of one of them are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did not wear their rings (they used them only for sealing), until Aban came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). The narrator said: That is, they kept them but did not wear them.
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, Ibn Lahi'ah being the only exception: although he is hasan al-hadith (sound in hadith),
this report is not accepted from him, because he contradicted the reliable (thabt) narrators who reported from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wear a ring.

Sayyiduna Khalid bin Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with a ring on his hand. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Khalid, what is this ring?" He said: "It is a ring that I wear." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take it off and show it to me." He said: I took it off, and it was a ring made of iron with silver on it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What is engraved on it?" I said: "Muhammad Rasulullah (Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took it and put it on; this is the very ring that remained on the blessed hand of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Yahya bin Abd al-Hamid al-Himmani, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did not wear rings, nor did they seal letters, until Ziyad bin Abi Sufyan wrote to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): "You send us letters about certain matters, but we do not find a seal on them." At that point Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had a ring made and used it to seal.
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Ibn Lahi'ah, and this contradicts the sahih hadiths.

Sayyiduna Ubadah bin al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The stone of the ring of Sayyiduna Sulayman bin Dawud (peace be upon them both) came from the heavens. It was cast down to him, so he took it and set it in his ring. On it was engraved: I am Allah; there is no god but Me; Muhammad is My servant and My Messenger."
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Muhammad bin Makhlad al-Ru'ayni, who is extremely da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wore a gold ring for three days. When his Companions saw him, they too put on gold rings. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) threw it off, and we do not know what became of it. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had a silver ring made and ordered that "Muhammad Rasulullah (Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah)" be engraved on it. That ring remained on the blessed hand of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) until he passed away, then on the hand of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) until he passed away, then on the hand of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) until he passed away, then on the hand of Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) for two years. When the letters he had to deal with became many, he handed it to a man of the Ansar, who used it to seal. Once that Ansari went to a pit (or well) belonging to Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), and the ring fell from him and was never found. Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered a ring like it to be made and had "Muhammad Rasulullah" engraved on it. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: The hadith narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) is in the Sahih in abridged form.
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains al-Mughirah bin Ziyad, whom Yahya bin Ma'in and others declared thiqah (trustworthy), while Ahmad and others declared him da'if (weak). The remaining narrators of this report are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw me wearing a ring on my index finger and middle finger, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The ring is only for this one and this one (finger)," that is, for the little finger and the one next to it.
Al-Tabarani recorded it. Its chain contains Muhammad bin Ubaydullah; if he is al-Arzami, then he is da'if (weak). The remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wear a ring on his blessed right hand, and when he passed away it was on his blessed right hand.
Al-Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains Ubayd bin al-Qasim, who is matruk (abandoned).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wear a ring on his right hand. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Abu Dawud recorded this hadith from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wear a ring on his left hand.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wear a ring on his right hand.
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Ja'far bin al-Zubayr, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wear a ring on his right hand.
Al-Tabarani recorded it through two weak routes.

It is reported about Sayyiduna Ja'far bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he used to wear a ring on his right hand.
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The ring of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) remained with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) during his caliphate, with Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) during his caliphate, and with Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) during part of his caliphate. Once he was sitting at the edge of the well of Aris, and the ring fell from him into that well. The people drew out all the water of the well, but they did not find the ring.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains Abu Abdullah al-Tirmidhi, about whom Ibn al-Jawzi said: He is not deemed trustworthy; and another narrator is al-Tabarani's teacher, whom I do not know. The remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna al-Sa'ib bin Yazid (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The ring of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) remained on the hand of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) until he died, then on the hand of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) until he died, then on the hand of Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) until it fell into the well of Aris.
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Isa bin Bishr bin Abbad, whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The band of the ring of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was made of silver.
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Jamil bin Abdullah said: I saw five of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wearing gold rings (they were): Sayyiduna Zayd bin Harithah (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Zayd bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna al-Bara' bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Yazid (may Allah be pleased with him).
Al-Tabarani recorded it. I do not know the narrator Jamil; its remaining narrators have been declared trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Muslim bin Abd al-Rahman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in the year of the Conquest of Makkah, taking the pledge of allegiance from women on (the hill of) Safa. A woman came to him whose hand was like a man's hand, and he did not take her pledge until she went away and changed her hands with red or yellow dye (that is, applied henna). A man came to him wearing an iron ring, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah Almighty does not purify a hand on which there is an iron ring."
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains a woman, Shumaysah bint Nabhan, whom I do not know. The remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the gold ring and the iron ring.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A man came from Bahrain to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not return his greeting. He had a gold ring on his hand and was wearing a silk cloak. The man went back distressed and complained about this to his wife. His wife said to him: "Perhaps the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked your cloak and your ring; take them both off." He took them both off. The next day, when he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned his greeting. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, I came to you earlier and you turned away from me." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There was an ember of fire in your hand." He said: "In that case, I have brought many embers." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What you have brought is of no more worth to us than the stones of the rocky ground; it is the enjoyment of the life of this world." The man asked: "Then what should I wear as a ring?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "(Wear a ring with) a band of silver, iron or brass." (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Al-Nasa'i (may Allah have mercy on him) recorded a small part from the beginning of this report.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. The narrator Abu al-Najib was declared thiqah (trustworthy) by Ibn Hibban, and the remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wearing a brass ring. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What is this ring for?" He said: "For al-wahinah (an ailment of that name)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It will only increase you in weakness."
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains Ufayr bin Ma'dan, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Thawban (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a man from among his Companions who had a copper ring on his hand. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What is this for?" He said: "It is for al-wahinah (an ailment of that name)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take it off."
Al-Tabarani recorded it. I do not know Abu Salamah al-Kala'i, the Tabi'i; and another narrator is al-Ahwas bin Hakim, whom Ibn al-Madini and others declared thiqah (trustworthy), while Yahya bin Ma'in and others declared him da'if (weak). The remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever wears a ring of agate (aqiq, a stone of that name) will continually see good."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. The narrator Amr bin al-Sharid did not hear from Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), and the narrator Zuhayr bin Abbad al-Ru'asi was declared thiqah (trustworthy) by Abu Hatim. The remaining narrators of this report are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: One of the sons of Sayyiduna Ja'far bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you! Send someone with me to buy me sandals and a ring." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "Go to the market and buy him sandals; buy new ones, and they should not be black. And buy him a ring, and its stone should be agate (aqiq)."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains Muhammad bin Ayyub bin Suwayd, who is extremely da'if (weak).

Mujahid said: A woman from among the early women would make a button for the sleeve of her shirt, which she would keep on her fingers and with which she would cover her ring (so that her adornment would not show).
Abu Ya'la recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.