Author: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Using gold and silver utensils for eating and drinking is explicitly prohibited in Islam, as established by authentic Ahadith.
① Hadith of Ḥudhayfah (RA):
"لا تشربوا فى آنية الذهب والفضة ولا تاكلوا فى صحافها فإنها لهم فى الدنيا ولكم فى الآخرة"
"Do not drink from gold and silver vessels, and do not eat from their plates, for they are for them (disbelievers) in this world and for you in the Hereafter."
(Bukhārī 5426, Muslim 2067, Tirmidhī 1878, Abū Dāwūd 2723, Ibn Mājah 3414, Aḥmad 5/385, Dārimī 2/121, Musnad Ḥumaydī 440)
② Hadith of Umm Salamah (RA):
"إن الذى يشرب فى إناء الفضة , إنما يجرجر فى بطنه نار جهنم"
"Whoever drinks from a silver vessel is only filling his belly with the fire of Hell."
(Bukhārī 5634, Muslim 2065, Muwaṭṭaʾ 2/924, Ibn Mājah 3413, Dārimī 2/121, Aḥmad 6/301, Ṭayālisī 1601)
The view of Imām al-Shawkānī and Imām al-Ṣanʿānī is stronger — eating and drinking from gold/silver utensils is ḥarām, but other forms of usage are permissible, as no clear prohibition exists for them.
For more detail, refer to: Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī 5/646, Fatḥ al-Bārī 10/365.
هٰذَا مَا عِندِي وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَاب
Using gold and silver utensils for eating and drinking is explicitly prohibited in Islam, as established by authentic Ahadith.
Evidence from Hadith
① Hadith of Ḥudhayfah (RA):
"لا تشربوا فى آنية الذهب والفضة ولا تاكلوا فى صحافها فإنها لهم فى الدنيا ولكم فى الآخرة"
"Do not drink from gold and silver vessels, and do not eat from their plates, for they are for them (disbelievers) in this world and for you in the Hereafter."
(Bukhārī 5426, Muslim 2067, Tirmidhī 1878, Abū Dāwūd 2723, Ibn Mājah 3414, Aḥmad 5/385, Dārimī 2/121, Musnad Ḥumaydī 440)
② Hadith of Umm Salamah (RA):
"إن الذى يشرب فى إناء الفضة , إنما يجرجر فى بطنه نار جهنم"
"Whoever drinks from a silver vessel is only filling his belly with the fire of Hell."
(Bukhārī 5634, Muslim 2065, Muwaṭṭaʾ 2/924, Ibn Mājah 3413, Dārimī 2/121, Aḥmad 6/301, Ṭayālisī 1601)
Classical Opinions
- Imām Abū Ḥanīfah: Permitted drinking from gold or silver vessels if one does not put the mouth directly on the gold/silver portion. (al-Umm 1/10, al-Majmūʿ 1/307, al-Mughnī 1/77, al-Kāfī 1/17, al-Inṣāf 1/81)
- This view contradicts the explicit wording of authentic Ahadith.
- Majority (Jumhūr, al-Qurṭubī): Eating, drinking, or any usage of gold and silver utensils is prohibited by consensus. (Sharḥ Muslim by al-Nawawī 7/277–278, Fatḥ al-Bārī 10/100)
- Imām al-Ṣanʿānī: Prohibited for eating/drinking, but other uses are permissible. (Subul al-Salām 1/41)
- Imām al-Shawkānī: Everything is permissible unless there is evidence of prohibition; thus, non-eating/drinking uses are allowed. (Nayl al-Awṭār 1/122)
Preferred Opinion (Rājiḥ):
The view of Imām al-Shawkānī and Imām al-Ṣanʿānī is stronger — eating and drinking from gold/silver utensils is ḥarām, but other forms of usage are permissible, as no clear prohibition exists for them.
For more detail, refer to: Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī 5/646, Fatḥ al-Bārī 10/365.
هٰذَا مَا عِندِي وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَاب
