Is a woman wearing gold considered below the nisab?
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May Allah preserve and grant you scrupulousness, His Eminence Shaykh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz. Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. I heard in the program beloved by everyone, *Nur 'ala al-Darb*, in a previous episode, that a woman’s jewelry is subject to zakah if it reaches the nisab and a lunar year has passed over it. We ask your Eminence to encourage Muslim women and urge them to be economical in wearing gold, meaning below the nisab, and to consider that exceeding that—meaning exceeding the nisab—to be extravagance and waste. This is because there is a book by Shaykh al-Balawi titled *O Muslim Girl, Read So You Are Not Deceived*, in which he states that a woman must not be deceived by appearances and must not be like a jewelry and gold exhibition. May Allah reward you with good. From al-Zulfi—Abdul Muhsin al-Abd al-Rahman?
Answer: A woman is permitted to wear whatever jewelry she needs. Allah has permitted her jewelry because she needs to adorn herself for her husband. For this reason, He, Exalted and Majestic is He, said in His great Book: [Al-Zukhruf: 18]. So she grows up wearing adornment and adorns herself with it so that she may be more desirable to husbands and so that she may be desirable and beloved to her husband. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: Bulugh al-Maram 2:460.
So a woman needs to adorn herself with jewelry. If she is economical in that and is content with what suffices for adornment and makes her husband desire connection with her and enjoy her company, then this is considered a good and fine thing.
As for the claim that what exceeds the amount that reaches the nisab is extravagance, I do not know any basis for this, nor is there evidence for it. She may wear what reaches the nisab, two nisabs, three, or more than that. Then it is wealth she preserves for herself, which benefits her in the future. Jewelry is wealth that benefits her in the future, so there is no blame on her for wearing what she needs or what is customary in her country, such as necklaces, bracelets, rings, or other things that are customary. We do not know of any harm in any of that, nor do we know of a limited limit for a woman’s jewelry. However, when it reaches the nisab, zakah is due upon it according to the most correct of the scholars’ opinions.
And in the other opinion: there is no zakah on what she wears.
And the second opinion: that she owes zakah, is the correct one and the stronger position, because it is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:Sahih Muslim 987a, and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . And Umm Salamah used to wear ornaments of gold, so she said: , and he did not say to her: “There is no zakah in jewelry.”
As for what is narrated from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 4:383, it is a weak hadith according to the scholars of knowledge and is not relied upon as evidence. So zakah is obligatory in jewelry when it reaches the nisab. The nisab of gold is twenty mithqals, and its amount in Saudi pounds is eleven pounds and three-sevenths of a pound, meaning eleven and a half. And in grams, its amount is ninety-two grams, ninety-two after analysis. When it reaches ninety-two grams, this is the nisab. So if the gold she has reaches this, then in it is zakah of one-quarter of one-tenth: twenty-five riyals in every thousand, and two and a half in the hundred. And if what she has is less than that, there is no zakah on her. And if it is more, then by calculation; for everything that increases, she owes one-quarter of one-tenth. So if what she has reaches forty thousand, she owes one thousand every year, and so on...
And silver is likewise; in it is zakah when it reaches the nisab, which is one hundred and forty mithqals, and its amount in dirhams is fifty-six silver riyals in Saudi gold. When the silver coins reach fifty-six, zakah becomes obligatory in them, and so on for what is equivalent to them from the currencies that people deal in, such as the dollar, the British pound, the Egyptian pound, the Saudi riyal... and so on. Whenever it reaches the nisab of gold or silver, zakah becomes obligatory in it. Yes.
Answer: A woman is permitted to wear whatever jewelry she needs. Allah has permitted her jewelry because she needs to adorn herself for her husband. For this reason, He, Exalted and Majestic is He, said in His great Book:
Or one who is brought up in adornment
أَوَمَنْ يُنَشَّأُ فِي الْحِلْيَةِGold and silk are lawful for the females among my followers, but prohibited to the males
أحل الذهب والحرير لإناث أمتي وحرم على ذكورهمSo a woman needs to adorn herself with jewelry. If she is economical in that and is content with what suffices for adornment and makes her husband desire connection with her and enjoy her company, then this is considered a good and fine thing.
As for the claim that what exceeds the amount that reaches the nisab is extravagance, I do not know any basis for this, nor is there evidence for it. She may wear what reaches the nisab, two nisabs, three, or more than that. Then it is wealth she preserves for herself, which benefits her in the future. Jewelry is wealth that benefits her in the future, so there is no blame on her for wearing what she needs or what is customary in her country, such as necklaces, bracelets, rings, or other things that are customary. We do not know of any harm in any of that, nor do we know of a limited limit for a woman’s jewelry. However, when it reaches the nisab, zakah is due upon it according to the most correct of the scholars’ opinions.
And in the other opinion: there is no zakah on what she wears.
And the second opinion: that she owes zakah, is the correct one and the stronger position, because it is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
If any owner of gold or silver does not pay what is due on him, when the Day of Resurrection would come, plates of fire would be beaten out for him; these would then be heated in the fire of Hell and his sides, his forehead and his back would be cauterized with them.
ما من صاحب ذهب ولا فضة لا يؤدي زكاتهاا إلا إذا كان يوم القيامة صفحت له صفائح من نار فيكوى بها جنبه وجبينه وظهرهWhen a woman came to him and in her daughter’s hand were two bracelets of gold, he said: “Do you pay the zakah of this?” She said: “No.” He said: “Would you like Allah to brand you with them on the Day of Resurrection with two bracelets of fire?” So she threw them away and said: “They are for Allah and His Messenger.”
لما دخلت عليه امرأة وفي يد ابنتها مسكتان من ذهب، قال: أتعطين زكاة هذا؟ قالت: لا، قال: أيسرك أن يسورك الله فيهما يوم القيامة بسوارين من نار؟ فألقتهما وقالت: هما لله ورسولهO Messenger of Allah, is this hoarded? He said: “Whatever reaches the amount that requires zakah, and zakah is paid on it, is not hoarded.”
يا رسول الله أكنز هذا؟ قال: ما بلغ أن يزكى فزكي فليس بكنزAs for what is narrated from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
There is no zakah on jewelry
ليس في الحلي زكاةAnd silver is likewise; in it is zakah when it reaches the nisab, which is one hundred and forty mithqals, and its amount in dirhams is fifty-six silver riyals in Saudi gold. When the silver coins reach fifty-six, zakah becomes obligatory in them, and so on for what is equivalent to them from the currencies that people deal in, such as the dollar, the British pound, the Egyptian pound, the Saudi riyal... and so on. Whenever it reaches the nisab of gold or silver, zakah becomes obligatory in it. Yes.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.