It is obligatory for a Muslim to adhere to the Shariah of Islam, to observe its limits and restrictions, prohibitions and condemnations, to enter the stages of self-surrender, and to firmly understand that what Islam has forbidden is for my benefit, and what it has commanded is with my welfare in mind. The Generous Owner is our Merciful One, and accepting what He commands is the essence of Islam. Allah has declared certain things forbidden for men, among them is gold. Consider the evidences:
➊ Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) narrates:
إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم رأى خاتما من ذهب فى يد رجل، فنزعه فطرحه، وقال : يعمد أحدكم إلى جمرة من نار فيجعلها فى يده، فقيل للرجل بعد ما ذهب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : خذ خاتمك انتفع به، قال : لا ، والله ، لا أخذه أبدا وقد طرحه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
“The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saw a companion wearing a gold ring on his hand, so he took it off and threw it away and said: You hold fire in your hand. After the passing of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), someone said to that companion, ‘Pick up the ring and benefit from it.’ He said: By Allah! The Prophet (peace be upon him) threw it away, I will never pick it up.”
Consider! The Prophet (peace be upon him) saw a gold ring on a companion’s hand and removed it, and the companion did not even agree to pick it up, although it could have been used in some other way. But no deviation from the pleasure of the Prophet is acceptable. We are those who, upon seeing a little abundance, throw all Shariah rulings behind and start adorning our fingers with gold rings. We think perhaps this is our ornamentation. Do we know better than the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) about ornamentation? Gold is only an ornament for women, not for men. The ornament for men is silver and nothing else.
➋ Sayyiduna Abu Imamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فلا يلبس حريرا ولا ذهبا
“Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should not wear silk and gold.”
➌ Sayyiduna Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:
إن رجلا قدم من نجران إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وعليه خاتم من ذهب، فأعرض عنه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وقال : إنك جئتني وفي يدك جمرة من نار
“A man from Najran came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) wearing a gold ring. The Prophet (peace be upon him) turned his face away from him and said: You have fire in your hand.”
Imam Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him) (5489) declared this hadith authentic.
➍ Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يلبس خاتما من ذهب، فنبذه فقال : لا ألبسه أبدا فنبذ الناس خواتيمهم
“The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to wear a gold ring, then he threw it away and said: I will never wear a gold ring again. Then the companions also threw away their rings.”
It is understood that gold was initially permissible for men but later abrogated and forbidden.
➎ Sayyiduna Bara bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) forbade us from seven things, one of which was a gold ring.
Benefit No. 1:
Abu Safar (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates:
رأيت على البراء خاتما من ذهب
“I saw a gold ring on the hand of Sayyiduna Bara bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him).”
There is an objection that the narrator of the hadith himself wore a gold ring. The answer is that Sayyiduna Bara bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) considered wearing this gold ring for himself as a special case. Consider the authentic hadith:
Muhammad bin Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) asked Sayyiduna Bara bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) why he was wearing a gold ring. He replied that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) distributed the spoils of war, a gold ring was among them. The Prophet (peace be upon him) looked towards his companions and lowered his gaze, then raised it again and lowered it, and the third time he raised it, he called me. I sat near the Prophet (peace be upon him), and he took the ring from me and held it by my belt and said:
خذ البس ما كساك الله ورسوله
“Hold the ring and wear it; Allah and His Messenger have made you wear it.”
Sayyiduna Bara (may Allah be pleased with him) said: How can you ask me to remove the ring that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) made me wear?
From this authentic hadith, it is understood that Sayyiduna Bara bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) considered the ring as a special allowance for himself, not that the prohibition or forbiddance was lifted.
Benefit No. 2:
It is possible that some companions who wore gold rings were not reached by the abrogation, prohibition, and forbiddance of gold.
➏ Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
من أحب أن يحلق حبيبه حلقة من نار فليحلقه حلقة من ذهب، ومن أحب أن يطوق حبيبه طوقا من نار فليطوقه طوقا من ذهب، ومن أحب أن يسور حبيبه سوارا من نار، فليسوره سوارا من ذهب، ولكن عليكم بالفضة فالعبوا بها
“Whoever wants to put a bracelet of fire on his friend, let him put a gold bracelet on him; whoever wants to put a chain of fire on him, let him put a gold chain on him; whoever wants to put a bangle of fire on him, let him put a gold bangle on him. But silver is for you; play with it.”
Hafiz Munthiri declared it authentic.
From this hadith, it is established that wearing a gold ring is forbidden for men and permissible for women.
➐ Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:
إن نبي الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أخذ حريرا فجعله فى يمينه، وأخذ ذهبا فجعله فى شماله ثم قال : إن هذين حرام على ذكور أمتي
“The Prophet (peace be upon him) held silk in his right hand and gold in his left hand and said: These are forbidden for the men of my Ummah.”
Evidence for this is also found in Sunan Tirmidhi and others.
➑ Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say:
الحرير والذهب حرام على ذكور أمتي، وحلال لإنائهم
“Silk and gold are forbidden for the men of my Ummah and permissible for the women.”
Benefit No. 1:
In some emergency situations, the use of gold by men is permissible, for example:
Piercing the nose with gold, filling teeth or molars with gold, joining teeth with gold wire. Abdul Rahman bin Arfajah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates:
إن جده عرفجة بن أسعد، قطع أنفه يوم الكلاب، فاتخذ أنها من ورق، فأنتن عليه، فأمره النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم، فاتخذ أنفا من ذهب
“In the Battle of Khallab, their grandfather Arfajah bin As’ad (may Allah be pleased with him) had his nose cut off. He had a silver nose ring put on, but it started to smell bad, so by the command of the Prophet (peace be upon him), he had a gold nose ring put on.”
Imam Tirmidhi (may Allah have mercy on him) graded this hadith as “Hasan” and Imam Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him) (5462) declared it authentic.
Benefit:
Some people, out of desire, cover their teeth with gold caps; this is absolutely not permissible.
