What is the ruling on wearing a ring?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : This is a type of adornment. If it goes beyond custom and becomes extravagance, it is forbidden. If it is within custom, there is no strict prohibition. The common people among us—may Allah reward you—wear rings on all their fingers, meaning the inner band; they wear about four of these on one finger and likewise on the second.
The Shaykh : On both hands.
The questioner : No, on two fingers of the hand.
The Shaykh : The little finger and the ring finger; they fill them.
The questioner : They have four on one and four on the other, sometimes.
The Shaykh : No, that is necessary; it must be five because this one is longer.
The questioner : They make it excessive; sometimes you find a person with two weeks’ worth full. This is not permissible.
The Shaykh : This is for the sake of…
The questioner : We tell them…
The Shaykh : Yes, and it is forbidden, because this is extravagance. So he said, one is enough. You want to adorn yourself for people. It is the woman who wears these things, yes.
The questioner : May Allah be far from you, O Shaykh, because our consideration of wearing a ring is for men, because this place is specific to women themselves, not specific to men.
The Shaykh : What we see is that if a person needs it, he should wear it, such as a president, a king, a minister, or the like. Otherwise, it is better to follow the people of his land. In our custom, people of honor do not wear it, except those who need it. As for people of honor, by custom, they do not wear it. Our scholars did not wear it, except the judges among them, for they wear it because they need it.
The Shaykh : On both hands.
The questioner : No, on two fingers of the hand.
The Shaykh : The little finger and the ring finger; they fill them.
The questioner : They have four on one and four on the other, sometimes.
The Shaykh : No, that is necessary; it must be five because this one is longer.
The questioner : They make it excessive; sometimes you find a person with two weeks’ worth full. This is not permissible.
The Shaykh : This is for the sake of…
The questioner : We tell them…
The Shaykh : Yes, and it is forbidden, because this is extravagance. So he said, one is enough. You want to adorn yourself for people. It is the woman who wears these things, yes.
The questioner : May Allah be far from you, O Shaykh, because our consideration of wearing a ring is for men, because this place is specific to women themselves, not specific to men.
The Shaykh : What we see is that if a person needs it, he should wear it, such as a president, a king, a minister, or the like. Otherwise, it is better to follow the people of his land. In our custom, people of honor do not wear it, except those who need it. As for people of honor, by custom, they do not wear it. Our scholars did not wear it, except the judges among them, for they wear it because they need it.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 1759 - 4600 ما حكم لبس الخاتم؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.