Is gold jewelry forbidden by Islamic law?

The questioner : Gold jewelry... We have debated this topic extensively. I wish we could hear your final ruling on this matter.

The Shaykh : There is no harm in this, but reading what has been written on this subject may be more beneficial. Gold jewelry is like gold vessels; men and women share in the prohibition of them. It is strange and wondrous that the majority of scholars forbid gold vessels for women, even though they know, as we know with them, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) when he came out one day to his companions with gold in one hand and silk in the other, and said: "These are forbidden for the males of my Ummah, but permissible for the females." They know this hadith, which covers all gold, and that it is forbidden for men and permissible for women. Yet they do not permit a woman to use gold and silver vessels, even though there is no specific text regarding this. This is where the strangeness lies: there is no specific text forbidding gold vessels for women; rather, there is a general text in terms of Arabic style that can include women, namely his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . They derived the prohibition of these gold vessels for women from the word "min" (from), because it is a form of inclusion and generality, so it included both men and women. When explicit and authentic hadiths came, and more than this hadith—this is just one hadith, but it is authentic—these hadiths explicitly forbid this for women first, and then for gold jewelry second, they said these hadiths were abrogated. What abrogated them? . First, this contradicts the principles of jurisprudence we learned from them, because it is not permissible to abrogate a specific text with a general one; rather, the opposite is correct: the specific is excepted from the general, and the general remains partially abrogated, but not entirely. For example, Allah the Exalted said: . "Carrion" is general or absolute, covering all carrion, including for example the carrion of the sea, the carrion of locusts, and the carrion of fish. If we relied only on this Qur'anic text, we would forbid the carrion of fish and locusts. If we relied only on this Qur'anic text, we would forbid the carrion of fish and locusts. Similarly, it includes the liver and spleen, but when the scholars found that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , what did they do with the verse? They said it was specified by the hadith. If we wanted to summarize the meaning of the verse, we would say: "Carrion is forbidden to you, except the carrion of fish and locusts," and "blood, except the blood of the liver and spleen." So this Qur'anic text is general; it did not abrogate the two parts that contradict the generality of the text. Rather, the opposite occurred: what was specifically mentioned as permissible in the specific text was excepted from the general text. Therefore, we said "Carrion is forbidden to you, except such and such," and we did not say "All carrion is forbidden" and that the hadith is abrogated because it contradicts the general text. The scholars do not say that the specific contradicts the general. This is very common, and very much so. For example, when Allah the Glorious and Exalted mentioned the women who are forbidden, He said: . He did not mention all the women forbidden through breastfeeding. He said: , then He said: , "your sisters through breastfeeding," which is permissible, and so on. But the authentic hadith came saying: . So what did they do with His saying (the Exalted): ? They specified this Qur'anic text with the Prophetic hadith. And so it is with many general texts in the Qur'an that are restricted by the Sunnah. In our topic here, we have only the hadith . When the hadith forbidding gold vessels came, with the wording , they said: Women are not permitted to use these vessels, even though gold in general is permissible for them. It should be said in that case, a fortiori, that they are not permitted to adorn themselves with gold jewelry, because that was explicitly stated specifically for women, not as a general text as is the case with drinking vessels of gold. For example, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . We have the following hadith, which is more explicit in its indication, because here, it is not hidden from you that many people do not know that the form "fa'il" is used for both female and male. It may be difficult for them, and they might say "his beloved" means the male. It is said, for example, "a man who is a martyr" and "a woman who is a martyr," yes.

The questioner : And a wounded person.

The Shaykh : And a wounded person, and the like. This is of that nature, and it is difficult for them. No, this is not what is meant by "females" but rather "males." This distorted understanding comes from his saying: , meaning "as you wish." This is a text, and this is what they do not say is permissible for men. Second, and this is also clear, but some may try: Who is the one who wears a bracelet? We do not say who is the one who wears a ring; who is the one who wears a bracelet? It is the women. Who is the one who puts a necklace around his neck? It is the women. The point is, but the hadith I referred to and intended to mention is very explicit, and it is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw one day on a woman's finger a ring of gold, a ring of gold... He struck it with a stick in his hand, in his hand (peace and blessings be upon him), and said: . And she left, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) left. And glory be to Allah for a wisdom He willed, this woman whom the Messenger struck with a stick, her name came in the hadith as the daughter of Hubayrah. She went to Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), and soon the Messenger came and entered upon Fatimah.