Question:
Can men wear silver jewellery like rings, chains etc ?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
With regard to men wearing rings of silver: this is permissible and there is nothing wrong with it.
Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) wanted to send a letter to the Romans, he was told that they would not read any letter unless it had a seal on it, so he took a ring of silver. It is as if I can see it shining on his hand, and engraved on it were the words ‘Muhammad the Messenger of Allaah.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5537; Muslim 2092).
A similar report was also narrated by Ibn ‘Umar (al-Bukhaari, 5528; Muslim, 2091).
Shaykh al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyah) was asked about men wearing silver, and he said:
As for rings of silver, this is permissible according to the consensus of the imaams, for it was reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had a ring of silver and that his companions wore rings. This is unlike gold rings, which are forbidden according to the consensus of the four imaams. It was reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade that. As for wearing silver, there is no general statement that it is forbidden, and no one has the right to say that it is forbidden if there is no shar’i evidence (daleel) to that effect. As the Sunnah permits wearing silver rings, this is evidence that wearing silver is permissible…”
(Majmoo’ al-Fataawaa, 25/63-65).
With regard to wearing chains, this is not permissible for men, because this is an imitation of women, and there is no report which says that it is permissible for men to wear chains made of silver.
Wearing adornments on the wrist and neck, and on the ears, is an imitation of women, as this is something that is only for women. So it is not permissible for men to wear bracelets, earrings, anklets, or chains. For more information please see Question #(4021).
And Allaah knows best.
Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
