Chapter: The Prophet’s Rings ﷺ

ʿUbayd Allah and others related—through Nāfiʿ—from Ibn ʿUmar who said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ acquired a gold ring. Whenever he wore it on his right hand he would turn its bezel toward the inside of his palm. People therefore began making gold rings as well. Then he ascended the pulpit, removed his ring, cast it aside, and said, ‘By Allah, I shall never wear it again.’ Consequently, the people threw away their rings.”

A similar report is transmitted from Mujāhid and from Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī as mursal narrations. All of this occurred before gold was forbidden.

In the Ṣaḥīḥ it is stated that the Prophet ﷺ prohibited a gold ring.

It is authentically reported from Anas that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once wrote to Caesar without sealing the letter. He was told, “Your letter will not be read unless it is sealed.” The Prophet ﷺ therefore had a silver ring made on which was engraved “Muḥammad, Messenger of Allah.” I can almost see its brightness in the hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The ring was of silver, and he forbade others from engraving the same inscription on their rings. He said, “It was of silver, and its bezel was part of it.”

Another sound report from him states: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ acquired a silver ring whose bezel was Abyssinian, and it bore the inscription ‘Muḥammad, Messenger of Allah.’”

It is also authentically reported from Ibn ʿUmar that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ acquired a silver ring. It remained on his hand, then passed to Abū Bakr’s hand, then to ʿUmar’s, and then to ʿUthmān’s, until it fell into the Well of Aris. Its inscription read “Muḥammad, Messenger of Allah.” In one version narrated by Ibn ʿUmar it adds: “He used to turn its bezel toward the inside of his palm.”