The Ruling on Women Wearing Gold Rings

Question:
Some women among us have become doubtful and hesitant regarding the fatwa of the scholar Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, the hadith master of the Levant, in his book (Adab al-Zafaf) concerning the general prohibition of wearing gold rings. There are women who have actually refrained from wearing them, describing the women who do wear them as misguided and misguiding others. What is your Eminence’s opinion on the ruling regarding wearing gold rings specifically? We are in urgent need of your evidence and fatwa after the matter has become widespread and increased. May Allah forgive you and increase you in knowledge. Khaled A. 'A. Shibbah. Doha.

Answer:
It is permissible for women to wear gold, whether in the form of rings or otherwise, due to the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Surat al-Zukhruf: 18], where He mentioned that adornment is among the attributes of women, and this is general for gold and other things. And because of what Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and al-Nasa'i narrated with a good chain from the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took a piece of silk and placed it in his right hand, and took gold and placed it in his left hand, then said: Ibn Majah added in his narration: .
And because of what Ahmad, al-Nasa'i, and al-Tirmidhi narrated, and al-Tirmidhi graded it authentic, and Abu Dawud and al-Hakim narrated it, and al-Hakim graded it authentic, and al-Tabarani narrated it, and Ibn Hazm graded it authentic, from Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This hadith has been criticized due to a break in the chain between Sa'id ibn Abi Hind and Abu Musa, and there is no evidence for this that one can be reassured by. We have mentioned earlier those who graded it authentic. And even if the mentioned defect were valid, it is compensated for by the other authentic hadiths, as is the known rule among the masters of hadith.
The scholars of the Salaf followed this path, and more than one scholar has transmitted the consensus on the permissibility of a woman wearing gold. We will mention the statements of some of them to further clarify:
Al-Jassas said in his Tafsir, Vol. 3, p. 388, in his discussion on gold: "The reports regarding its permissibility for women from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Companions are more apparent and more famous than the reports of prohibition, and the indication of the verse [he means the verse we mentioned earlier] is also clear in its permissibility for women. The wearing of jewelry by women has become widespread from the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Companions to our day, without anyone objecting to them, and such a matter is not objected to by reports from a single narrator." End of quote. And al-Kiya al-Harrasi said in his Tafsir of the Qur'an, Vol. 4, p. 391, in his interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "In this is evidence for the permissibility of jewelry for women, and the consensus is established on it, and the reports on this are innumerable." End of quote.
And al-Bayhaqi said in al-Sunan al-Kubra (Vol. 4, p. 142), when he mentioned some of the hadiths indicating the permissibility of gold and silk for women without specification, his text is: "These reports and what is in their meaning indicate the permissibility of adorning with gold for women, and we have inferred from the establishment of the consensus on its permissibility for them the abrogation of the reports indicating its prohibition for them specifically." End of quote.
And al-Nawawi said in al-Majmu', Vol. 4, p. 442: "It is permissible for women to wear silk and adorn themselves with silver and gold by consensus, due to the authentic hadiths." End of quote. He also said in Vol. 6, p. 0: "The Muslims have agreed that it is permissible for women to wear types of jewelry, both silver and gold, such as necklaces, chains, rings, bracelets, anklets, armlets, collars, and whatever is made for the neck and other parts, and whatever they are accustomed to wearing, and there is no disagreement on any of this." End of quote. And he said in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, in the chapter on the prohibition of the gold ring for men and the abrogation of what was permissible in the early Islam: "The Muslims have agreed on the permissibility of the gold ring for women." End of quote.
And al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his commentary on the hadith of al-Bara': "And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade us seven things, he forbade the gold ring..." the hadith. He said in Vol. 10, p. 317: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the gold ring or wearing it, specifically for men and not for women, for the consensus on its permissibility for women has been transmitted." End of quote.
Also indicating the permissibility of gold for women, absolutely, whether in the form of rings or otherwise, along with the two previous hadiths and what the aforementioned masters mentioned of the consensus of the scholars on it, are the following hadiths:
1 - What Abu Dawud and al-Nasa'i narrated from 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb from his father from his grandfather that a woman came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with her daughter, and on her daughter's hand were two thick gold bracelets. He said to her: She said: No. He said: So she took them off and threw them to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: They are for Allah and His Messenger. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified for her the obligation of zakah on the aforementioned bracelets, and he did not object to her daughter wearing them, so this indicates the permissibility of that, and they were rings. The hadith is authentic and its chain is good, as al-Hafiz pointed out in Bulugh al-Maram.
2 - What came in Sunan Abu Dawud with an authentic chain from 'Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) who said: "Jewelry was brought to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from the Negus, which he had gifted to him, containing a gold ring with an Ethiopian stone. She said: So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took it with a stick, turning it away, or with one of his fingers, then he called Umm Amma, the daughter of Abi al-'As, the daughter of his daughter Zaynab, and said: So this indicates the permissibility of gold rings by explicit text.
3 - What Abu Dawud and al-Daraqutni narrated, and al-Hakim graded it authentic, as in Bulugh al-Maram, from Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) that she used to wear gold bracelets. She said: O Messenger of Allah, is it a treasure? He said: If you pay its zakah, it is not a treasure. End of quote.
As for the hadiths whose apparent meaning is the prohibition of wearing gold for women, they are anomalous, contradicting what is more authentic and more established than them. The masters of hadith have established that if hadiths come with good chains but contradict hadiths that are more authentic than them, and reconciliation is not possible and the date is not known, then they are considered anomalous and are not relied upon and not acted upon. Al-Hafiz al-'Iraqi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Arfah:
And the anomalous is what contradicts the trustworthy
In it, al-Shafi'i verified it
And al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said in al-Nukhba, his text is: "If it is contradicted by the stronger, the stronger is the preserved one, and its opposite is the anomalous." End of quote. They also mentioned as a condition of the authentic hadith that is acted upon that it not be anomalous. There is no doubt that the hadiths narrated regarding the prohibition of gold for women, even assuming the safety of their chains from defects, cannot be reconciled with the authentic hadiths indicating the permissibility of gold for females, and the date is not known. So it is necessary to rule them as anomalous and not authentic, acting on this established legal rule considered by the scholars.
And what our brother in Allah, the scholar Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, mentioned in his book (Adab al-Zafaf) of reconciling them with the hadiths of permissibility by interpreting the hadiths of prohibition as applying to rings, and the hadiths of permissibility as applying to other things, is not correct and does not match what the authentic hadiths indicating permissibility came with; because in them is the permissibility of the ring, which is a loop, and the permissibility of the bracelet, which is a loop. So what we mentioned has become clear by that. And because the hadiths indicating permissibility are absolute and not restricted, it is necessary to act on them due to their absoluteness and the authenticity of their chains. This has been supported by what a group of scholars mentioned of the consensus on the abrogation of the hadiths indicating prohibition, as we transmitted their statements earlier. And this is the truth without doubt.
By this, the doubt is removed and the legal ruling becomes clear, without doubt, regarding the permissibility of gold for the females of the Ummah, and its prohibition for the males. And Allah is the guarantor of success, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and his Companions.