Gold for Men
To be a Muslim, it is necessary that you abide by the Islamic Shariah, that you keep in mind its limits and restrictions, its prohibitions and commandments, that you descend into the stages of complete submission, and that you understand that what Islam has forbidden, it has forbidden for my benefit, and where it has commanded, it has kept my gain in view. Our Generous Lord is Merciful to us, and to accept what He commands is the very name of Islam. Allah has made certain things unlawful for men, and gold is one of them. Consider the evidence:
➊ Sayyidina Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:
إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ رَأَى خَاتَمًا مِّنْ ذَهَبٍ فِي يَدِ رَجُلٍ، فَنَزَعَهُ فَطَرَحَهُ، وَقَالَ : يَعْمِدُ أَحَدُكُمْ إِلَى جَمْرَةٍ مِّنْ نَارٍ فَيَجْعَلُهَا فِي يَدِهِ، فَقِيلَ لِلرَّجُلِ بَعْدَ مَا ذَهَبَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : خُذْ خَاتِمَكَ انْتَفِعْ بِهِ، قَالَ : لَا ، وَاللهِ ، لَا أَخُذُهُ أَبَدًا وَّقَدْ طَرَحَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ.
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw a gold ring on the hand of a man, so he removed it and threw it away, and said: ‘Does one of you deliberately go to a live coal of fire and place it in his hand?’ Then, after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had left, it was said to the man: ‘Take your ring and benefit from it.’ He said: ‘No, by Allah, I will never take it, since the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has thrown it away.'”
Reflect: the Prophet ﷺ saw a gold ring on a companion’s hand and threw it away, and the companion would not even bear to pick it up, although it could have been used in some other way. Yet he did not dare to deviate even slightly from the pleasure of the Messenger. And we are the ones who, upon seeing a little abundance, cast all the rulings of the Shariah behind our backs and begin to wear gold rings on their fingers. We think that perhaps this is our adornment. Do we know more about adornment than the Prophet ﷺ? Gold is an adornment for women only. It is not for men; the adornment of men is silver, and that is all.
➋ Sayyidina Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said:
مَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ فَلَا يَلْبَسْ حَرِيرًا وَلَا ذَهَبًا.
“Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not wear silk or gold.”
➌ Sayyidina Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:
إِنَّ رَجُلًا قَدِمَ مِنْ نَجْرَانَ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعَلَيْهِ خَاتَمٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ، فَأَعْرَضَ عَنْهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَقَالَ : إِنَّكَ جِئْتَنِي وَفِي يَدِكَ جَمْرَةٌ مِنْ نَارٍ.
“A man came from Najran to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wearing a gold ring. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned away from him and said: ‘You came to me with a live coal of fire in your hand.'”
➍ Sayyidina Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:
كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ يَلْبَسُ خَاتَمًا مِّنْ ذَهَبٍ، فَنَبَذَهُ فَقَالَ : لَا أَلْبَسُهُ أَبَدًا فَنَبَذَ النَّاسُ خواتيَمَهُمْ.
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to wear a gold ring. He threw it away and said: ‘I will never wear a gold ring again.’ So the companions also threw away their rings.”
It is known from this that gold was previously permissible for men, and later it was abrogated and prohibited.
➎ Sayyidina Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade us from seven things, one of which was a gold ring.
Benefit No. ➊:
Abu Safar (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates:
رَأَيْتُ عَلَى البَرَاءِ خَاتَمَا مِنْ ذَهَبٍ.
“I saw a gold ring on the hand of Sayyidina Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him).”
An objection arises that the narrator of the hadith himself wore a gold ring. The answer to this is that Sayyidina Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) considered wearing this gold ring to be specific to him. Consider the authentic hadith:
Muhammad bin Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) asked Sayyidina Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) why he was wearing a gold ring. He replied that the Prophet ﷺ distributed the spoils of war, and a gold ring was left over from it. The Prophet ﷺ raised his eyes to his companions and lowered them; he raised them a second time and lowered them again; he raised them a third time and then called me. I went and sat near the Prophet ﷺ, and he took the ring and, taking hold of my wrist, said:
خُذِ الْبَسْ مَا كَسَاكَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.
“Take the ring and wear it; it has been put on you by Allah and His Messenger.”
Sayyidina Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) said: How can you ask me to remove a ring that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ put on me?
From this authentic hadith it is known that Sayyidina Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) regarded the ring as specific to himself, and not that the prohibition and unlawfulness had been lifted from it.
Benefit No. ➋:
Those Companions from whom wearing a gold ring is established, it is possible that the abrogation, unlawfulness and prohibition of gold had not reached them.
➏ Sayyidina Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
مَنْ أَحَبَّ أَنْ يُحَلَّقَ حَبِيبَةً حَلْقَةً مِنْ نَارٍ فَلْيُحَلَّقْهُ حَلْقَةً مِّنْ ذَهَبٍ، وَمَنْ أَحَبَّ أَنْ يُطَوّقَ حَبِيبَهُ طَوْقًا فَلْيُطَوِّقْهُ طَوْفًا مِنْ ذَهَبٍ، وَمَنْ أَحَبَّ أَنْ يُسَوِّرَ حَبِيبَهُ سِوَارًا مِّنْ نَارٍ، فَلْيُسَوِّرْهُ سِوَارًا مِنْ ذَهَبٍ، وَلَكِنْ عَلَيْكُمْ بِالْفِضَّةِ فَالْعَبُوا بِهَا.
“Whoever wishes to put a ring of fire on his beloved, let him put on him a ring of gold; whoever wishes to put a collar of fire on his beloved, let him put on him a collar of gold; whoever wishes to put a bracelet of fire on his beloved, let him put on him a bracelet of gold. But silver is for you; play with it.”
Hafiz al-Mundhiri has called it sahih.
From this hadith it is established that wearing a gold ring is unlawful for men and lawful for women.
➐ Sayyidina Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:
إِنَّ نَبِيَّ اللهِ ﷺ أَخَذَ حَرِيرًا فَجَعَلَهُ فِي يَمِينِهِ، وَأَخَذَ ذَهَبًا شِمَالِهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ : إِنَّ هَذَيْنِ حَرَامٌ عَلَى ذُكُورِ أُمَّتِي.
“The Prophet ﷺ took silk in his right hand and gold in his left hand, and said: ‘These two are unlawful for the males of my Ummah.'”
Corroborating narrations for this are present in Sunan al-Tirmidhi and others.
Sayyidina Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he heard the Prophet ﷺ say:
الْحَرِيرُ وَالذَّهَبُ حَرَامٌ عَلَى ذُكُورِ أُمَّتِي ، وَحَلَالٌ لِإِنَائِهِمْ.
“Silk and gold are unlawful for the males of my Ummah and lawful for its females.”
