The ruling on a gold ring that is not a complete circle, where silver or the like is placed in the missing part, and what is permissible of it for women?

The questioner : Is it permissible for women to use gold that forms the shape of a ring, with the missing part completed by another metal such as silver, copper, or others, so that it remains connected, in order to avoid wearing a complete gold ring?

The Shaykh : We have heard this question in this country many times over and over again. It is necessary for us to know, as a linguistic fact, that whenever one substance is mixed with another substance, the criterion is the predominant, apparent part of it. For example, the well-known ruling, which is discussed in detail in the schools of jurisprudence despite the differences among them: if impurity falls into water, even if this impurity is visible, does this water cease to be pure, purifying water or not? The well-known view is that the correct opinion, in which there is no doubt, is what is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his saying: . Similarly, if there is a metal of silver mixed with iron, one looks at what predominates in it and rules accordingly. If iron predominates, its ruling is permissibility. If silver predominates, its ruling is disputed. Whoever permits adorning with silver—and this is what we see—is lawful. Whoever equates adorning with gold is forbidden, because we have assumed that what predominates in this mixture is silver.
We now move to the point of the question. If there is gold mixed with another permissible metal, the criterion is what appears from this mixture, as we mentioned regarding silver mixed with other metals. If it appears to people and to the eye that this is predominantly gold, its ruling is prohibition. If the other permissible metal predominates, it is permissible. This is regarding mixing and blending.
As for the question, you have probably recognized it: it concerns a ring of gold, whether it is silver or gold, whether it is a ring or a bracelet or a necklace. The question is about which of these three types has a connection that is not of the gold forbidden for women, let alone for men; that is, the complete gold ring. Let no one understand, as was rumored a few years ago, that Al-Albani forbids gold for women absolutely. Then, with time, back and forth, and people’s understanding, they realized that Al-Albani had no right to forbid gold, which the hadiths explicitly permit. All that happened is that he forbade something of this gold for women, following many hadiths established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that all agree on forbidding the complete gold ring for women. This is nothing but the ring, the bracelet, and the necklace. If there is a connection in any of these complete types of gold, such as a piece of silver or something else that is permissible, then one looks at what is predominant, based on the previous rule. If we assume that this complete frame is three-quarters gold and the other quarter is silver or another metal, what is said about this ring? Is it a silver ring or a gold ring? The issue is purely linguistic and has no relation to anything else.
If we return to what we presented earlier of explanation and detail, we said: as long as the proportion of the connection present in that ring is less than the gold, the ruling follows the predominant part, which is the gold. And if we assume that the connection of non-gold is more than the gold, it ceases to be a ring of gold. This is how we should look at handling such a question in the Arabic language. Is this a ring of gold or a ring of silver? No, by Allah, it is a ring of gold. Therefore, it is not permissible. If it is a ring of silver, then it is permissible.
This leads us to remind you of another question we have always heard here and there from other countries: if the ring is not complete in an opening, and this opening is not connected to another metal as mentioned earlier, the ring is open. This can be visualized as a bracelet that does not encircle the wrist from all sides. Is this a bracelet of gold? Look now at what is said about it. Is it a bracelet in the first place, or is it not a bracelet? Of course, because it encircles the majority of the wrist, it is a bracelet. If it were not so, it would not be considered one. Therefore, in this state, it must encircle more of the wrist so that it is not invalidated. Similarly, we say regarding the gold ring and the gold necklace. The criterion is thus what predominates in this ring of the two metals, so the ruling follows the predominant part. Then, what is valid to be called a ring of gold, a bracelet of gold, or a necklace of gold, even if it is open a little.