regarding the prohibition of gold jewelry: Is it forbidden because of the failure to pay its zakah?

The questioner : There have been many questions regarding your fatwa concerning gold, specifically the prohibition of gold jewelry for women. For example, a question was raised stating that there is a hadith in which a woman came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wearing a gold bracelet, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told her that it is obligatory for her to pay zakah on it and that she should not be encircled by fire on the Day of Resurrection. They said that if zakah is not paid on the gold, it becomes forbidden. There are also many other questions related to this topic: Is zakah due on this gold that a woman wears? Is it permissible for a man to pay zakah from his own wealth on the gold that his wife wears? And is it possible to separate a gold ring with silver, a thread, or something similar 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 be knowledgeable in religion, and to read what Allah has made easy for them from the books written on the methodology of the Book, the Sunnah, and the righteous Salaf. I say this because all the questions that have come in recently are fully detailed in my book "Etiquette of the Wedding in the Pure Sunnah". I hope that the educated women among you will refer to this book in the future so that the truth becomes clear to you with the clearest explanation. After this introduction, I say that there are many hadiths regarding the prohibition of a specific type of gold, and other hadiths regarding the obligation of zakah on the gold that a woman wears. It is not permissible to mix the two types of hadiths: one hadith obligates zakah on jewelry, and another hadith forbids that type of jewelry without addressing the obligation of zakah. All these hadiths are found in that book "Etiquette of the Wedding in the Pure Sunnah". The hadith mentioned in the question states that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to the woman: She said, "No," so he said: . But this is one thing, and there is another hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) saw a gold ring on a woman's hand. A "fatkh" is a ring, and it is said to be a large ring. It was a gold ring, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) struck her finger with a stick he was holding, without any mention in this hadith of his (peace and blessings be upon him) ordering her to pay zakah. Mixing that hadith with this hadith is not permissible in Islam, especially if it is done by preachers, male or female. We Salafis, all of us, men and women, must be clear in our religion, as our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) said: If it is reported in a hadith that the Messenger of Allah (peace 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 hadith, not from 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, and... also that there is a difference. The hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: came regarding a silver ring, a silver ring which is permissible for a man, let alone a woman, to wear. So the subject of the hadith is the ruling on the obligation of paying zakah on jewelry, regardless of whether that jewelry is permissible or forbidden. As for the other hadith, it explicitly states that he saw a ring on a woman's hand, struck her with a stick he was holding, and then this woman went to Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). Soon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) entered upon her and found a gold chain on her hand, so he (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) said: She has a chain of fire on her hand. Excuse me, and he rebuked her severely. So what did she (may Allah be pleased with her) do but go and sell the chain, buy a slave with its price, and free him. When that reached the Messenger of Allah (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, and the beginning of the story with the ring, and the end of the story related to Fatimah with a gold chain that she hung around her neck, so he (peace 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, he (peace be upon him), being happy and pleased, said: 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 no mention of zakah in this story at all, neither at the beginning nor at the end. But the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) explicitly stated: because she was adorning and beautifying herself with what Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has forbidden. Another thing, or another hadith, I hope will remain preserved in your minds, which is the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): If some people mix the hadith obligating zakah on jewelry with the hadith forbidding adorning oneself with gold, is there also a mix between that hadith and the hadith of Fatimah and that hadith and the last hadith ? It is extravagance, and indeed transgression against the texts of the Shari'ah, to attribute all these hadiths to a single hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) rebuked the woman because she did not pay zakah on that jewelry. This is a point we should be clear about. In brief, 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 of Allah (peace be upon him) permitted a woman to adorn herself with. Another truth, which I have often heard here and there, is a rumor spread by some envious, malicious, and scheming people among the people that no scholar of the Muslims, from the day Allah sent Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) 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, whom Allah has blessed by uniting us 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 opinions that disagree with our position. Even if the 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 a majority that follows people based on who has more followers; that is not the stronger position for us, nor is the one with fewer followers the weaker position. No, if there were a rule in this issue, following the fewer in number would be preferable to following the more in number if they disagreed, because we find in the texts of the Book and the Sunnah that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) condemns the many and praises the few, and the opposite. But we do not follow a rule, neither this way nor that 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 held by anyone except so-and-so is a lie and slander for which Allah has not sent down any authority. Whoever wants elaboration and explanation should refer to "Etiquette of the Wedding in the Pure Sunnah" as we mentioned.

The questioner : ... the gold ring ...

The Shaykh : As for the question of some people regarding the bracelet and the ring, if it is separated, meaning it does not form a complete loop but has an opening, this does not change the ruling. Because this bracelet, whether it is a closed loop or an open loop, is called a bracelet. We do not deviate from the Arabic language, so the bracelet is a bracelet, whether it is closed or open!

The questioner : Please, go ahead.

The Shaykh : It is not permissible under any circumstances. However, if an item departs from being a gold bracelet, or a gold necklace, or a gold ring, it then takes on a different ruling. For example, a silver bracelet with a gold button or a gold stone on it; this bracelet is not linguistically called a gold bracelet, but rather a silver bracelet, even if it has a gold stone or design on it. Likewise, if we assume another case, a necklace that encircles the neck made of fabric, such as velvet, of a beautiful color, soft fabric, etc., and a piece of gold is hung from its bottom, this is not called a gold necklace; it is a fabric necklace with a piece of gold hanging from it. This piece is permissible for a woman to use, because we only mentioned that the encircling item, i.e., that which surrounds a limb, is what those hadiths forbade. The hadiths did not forbid gold for women absolutely, as some people might imagine, but rather they forbade encircling gold, whether it encircles the finger, the wrist, or the neck. So if a woman took a gold comb and fastened it in her hair, there is no harm in that, because it is permissible in the general sense of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: Some women ask, as many of them and their husbands say, "What have you left for us, O Shaykh, from adornment? If this is forbidden and this is forbidden and this is forbidden, then nothing remains." The answer is that nothing remains, because they were accustomed to a type of adornment that the Lawgiver has forbidden. But if a woman took gold buttons or a gold comb, all of this is permissible because it is not encircling gold.
So, the fact that the bracelet is open does not remove the name of "bracelet" from it, but this open bracelet is silver, and in this opening, a piece of gold has been attached as adornment. There is no harm in this, because in this form, the bracelet is not described, neither linguistically nor religiously, as a gold bracelet. And so, apply this reasoning to all the types that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has forbidden.