What is the ruling on gold jewelry, and how do you respond to the hadiths indicating the permissibility of gold jewelry for women, and is it possible to separate it so that it becomes lawful?

The questioner : Many questions have come in regarding your fatwa concerning the prohibition of gold jewelry for women. Here, it is stated that there is a hadith in which a woman came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and she was wearing a gold bracelet. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) told her that it is obligatory for her to pay zakah on it and that she will be encircled by fire on the Day of Resurrection. They say this is in the case where zakah is not paid on the gold, making it forbidden. There is also a related matter: is zakah paid on this gold that a woman wears? Is it permissible for a man to pay zakah from his own wealth on the gold his wife wears? And is it possible to separate the gold ring with silver, a thread, or something else so that it becomes lawful? All these matters are related to gold jewelry for women.

The Shaykh : Before answering these questions, I ask the women present, and those who hear my voice or my answer, to educate themselves and to learn about the religion. They should read the books that Allah has made easy for them, which are written on the methodology of the Book, the Sunnah, and the righteous Salaf. All of this is because every question that has come in now is fully detailed in my book, *Adab al-Zafaf fi al-Sunnah al-Mutaharah* (The Etiquette of Marriage in the Pure Sunnah). So, I hope that the educated women among you will refer to this book in the future to learn the truth with the clearest explanation. After this introduction, I say:
There are many hadiths regarding the prohibition of a specific type of gold, and other hadiths regarding the obligation of zakah on this gold that a woman adorns herself with. It is not permissible to mix the two types of hadiths: one hadith that obligates zakah on jewelry, and another hadith that forbids that type of jewelry without addressing the obligation of zakah. All these hadiths are found in that book, *Adab al-Zafaf fi al-Sunnah al-Mutaharah*.
The hadith mentioned in the question states that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the woman She said, "No." So he said, (peace and blessings be upon him) . But this is one thing, and there is another hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a gold ring on a woman's hand—*al-futkh* is a ring, and it is said to be a large ring—so the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) struck her finger with a stick he was holding. There is no mention in this hadith of his command (peace and blessings be upon him) to obligate the payment of zakah. Mixing that hadith with this one is not permissible in Islam, especially if it is done by preachers or preacheresses. We Salafis, all of us, men and women, must be clear in our religion, as our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, said: . If a hadith comes in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) asked the woman who had a silver ring on her hand She said, "No." He said, . And there is another hadith in which he struck her because she was wearing a gold ring, without addressing her with the same question he asked the first woman. In that case, we take a ruling from each of the two hadiths, not taking a ruling from one hadith based on the other. From the first hadith, we take the ruling that it is obligatory to pay zakah on jewelry. From the other hadith, we take the ruling that it is not permissible to adorn oneself with what is made of gold. Also, note that there is a difference: the hadith in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said came regarding a silver ring. A silver ring is one that is permissible for a man, let alone a woman, to wear. So, the subject of that hadith is the ruling on the obligation of paying zakah on jewelry, regardless of whether that jewelry is lawful or forbidden. As for the other hadith, it explicitly states that he saw a ring on a woman's hand and struck her with a stick he was holding. Then this woman went to Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Soon, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon her and found a gold chain on her hand. So he said, (peace and blessings be upon him) , and he rebuked her severely. So what did she do, may Allah be pleased with her, but go and sell the chain and buy a slave with its price and free him. When that reached the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), he said, . In this hadith as well, we do not see any mention of the issue of zakah; rather, the entire hadith revolves around adorning oneself with gold, starting with the ring at the beginning of the story and ending with Fatimah’s gold chain, which she hung around her neck. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade that. When the Lady Fatimah repented and completed her repentance by fulfilling a well-known hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), which is his saying: . When the Lady Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, sold the chain and bought a slave with the value of that chain and freed him, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, while joyful and pleased: .
What did Fatimah do here such that her father praised Allah, Mighty and Majestic, for saving his daughter from the Fire? Did she not pay zakah? There is absolutely no mention of zakah in this story, neither at the beginning nor at the end. But the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly stated: . That is because she adorned and decorated herself with what Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has forbidden.
And another hadith, which I hope will remain in your minds, is the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): .
If some people mix the hadith regarding the obligation of zakah on jewelry with the hadith regarding the prohibition of adorning oneself with gold, is there also a mix between that hadith and the hadith of Fatimah, and between that hadith and the last hadith ? It is an excess, and even an aggression upon the texts of the Shari'ah, to attribute all these hadiths to the single hadith in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) rebuked the woman because she did not pay zakah on that jewelry. This is a point that we should be clear about.
In short, there are various hadiths, all of which revolve around the prohibition of gold jewelry for women. One of them revolves around the obligation of zakah on jewelry, even if it is silver, which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted a woman to adorn herself with.
And another truth that I have heard here and there is a rumor spread by some envious, malicious, and scheming people. They spread among the people that no one among the scholars of the Muslims, from the day Allah sent Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) until the time of Al-Albani, says what Al-Albani says regarding the prohibition of gold jewelry for women. This is a lie. I hope that we Salafis, upon whom Allah has bestowed the blessing of uniting in our gathering on the Book of Allah, the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, and the methodology of the righteous Salaf, do not fall into this. There is disagreement in this issue, and there are opinions that agree with our position, and there are opinions that disagree with our position. Although these disagreeing opinions are more numerous than the agreeing ones, I think we are all convinced that the truth is not known by men, but men are known by the truth. Know the truth, and you will know the men. And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: . We are not the majority who follow people based on what is followed by the majority, which is the stronger position in our view, and what is followed by the minority is the weaker position. No, if there were a rule in this issue, following the smaller number would be preferable to following the larger number if they disagreed, because we find in the texts of the Book and the Sunnah that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, condemns the multitude and praises the few, and not the other way around. But we do not return to this rule, neither in this way nor the opposite. Rather, we say: we are followers of the evidence, with whoever it is, whoever he may be. But the point is that the claim that this issue is not upheld by anyone but so-and-so is a falsehood and slander for which Allah has not sent down any authority. And whoever wants elaboration and explanation should refer to *Adab al-Zafaf fi al-Sunnah al-Mutaharah*, as we mentioned.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : As for the question some people ask about a bracelet or ring that is open, meaning it does not form a complete circle but has a gap, this does not change the ruling. Whether the bracelet is a closed loop or an open loop, its name is a bracelet, and we do not depart from the Arabic language. Therefore, a bracelet is a bracelet whether it is closed or open, and it is not permissible in any case. However, if an item ceases to be a gold bracelet, or a gold necklace, or a gold ring, then it takes on a different ruling. For example, a silver bracelet with a gold gemstone on it is not linguistically called a gold bracelet; it is a silver bracelet, even if it has a gold gemstone or design. Similarly, if we imagine another scenario: a necklace made of cloth, such as velvet, that goes around the neck, with a piece of gold hanging from its bottom. This is not called a gold necklace; it is a cloth necklace with a piece of gold hanging from it. This piece of gold is permissible for a woman to use, because what we mentioned as forbidden is that which encircles the body, which is what those hadiths prohibited. The hadiths do not forbid gold for women absolutely, as some people might imagine; rather, they forbid gold that encircles, whether it encircles the finger, the wrist, or the neck. So if a woman takes a gold comb and attaches it to her hair, there is no harm in that, because it is permissible and falls under the general meaning of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) . Some women ask, as many of them and their husbands say, “What have you left for us, O Shaykh, for adornment, if this is forbidden and that is forbidden? Nothing remains.” The answer is: Nothing remains, because they were accustomed to a type of adornment that the Lawgiver has forbidden. However, if a woman takes gold flowers or a gold comb, all of this is permissible because it is not encircling gold. If the bracelet is open, this does not remove the name “bracelet” from it, but if this open bracelet is silver and a piece of gold is attached to the gap as adornment, there is no harm, because in this case the bracelet is not described, linguistically or religiously, as a gold bracelet. And so you should apply this analogy to all the types that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has forbidden.