Al-Haythami said, “It was reported by Ahmad, and its chain is sound (ḥasan).”

I reply: Not at all; it is not ḥasan. Its isnād in the Musnad, 6/461, is as follows: “ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān ibn Khuthaym, from Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, from her.” This chain is weak on account of Shahr—as has already been discussed—and ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim, of whom al-Taqrīb states: “Reliable yet prone to error and obstinate in it.”

Moreover, in this very hadith he erred—on top of its weakness—by adding the mention of zakāt. Ahmad also recorded the narration at 6/453, 454, 455, 459 and 460 through other routes from Shahr without this addition. The report, therefore, speaks of the prohibition of gold bangles for women, not of the obligation of zakāt on jewellery. Ponder this well.

That prohibition enjoys numerous supporting reports, which I have collected in a dedicated chapter. Following certain early scholars, I there argue for excluding gold ornaments that form a complete circle—such as bangles—from the general permissibility of gold for women. I inserted the discussion in my treatise The Etiquette of Wedding according to the Purified Sunnah, where I have also answered the doubts raised by the dissenters and the blind imitators. Refer to it, for it is of great importance (pp. 132–168).