21 – Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: “The Prophet’s ﷺ drinking cup broke, so he fastened a small silver chain at the place of the crack.” Reported by al-Bukhārī (1).

Glossary of ḥadīth terms
• qadah (with two fathahs): a vessel from which water and similar drinks are taken; plural aqdāḥ. By contrast, al-qidḥ (with a kasrah followed by a sukūn) refers to the arrow shaft before it is fletched and fitted with an arrow-head, and it is also the gaming arrow used in maysir.
• inkasara: to split or break.
• al-shaʿb (fatḥah on shīn, silent ʿayn): a word shared by many meanings; here it denotes a fissure or crack.
• silsila (kasrah on sīn): a link or wire of iron and the like, or a piece thereof that joins the two sides of a break. With fatḥah on the sīn it refers to the joining of one thing to another, as in the chain of a vessel; plural salāsil.

Points derived from the ḥadīth
1 – Because the basic ruling on using gold and silver is prohibition—as established by the two preceding texts and others—whatever is permitted from the two metals is restricted to the specific situations named in the textual evidence.
2 – It is allowed to repair a broken vessel with a small clasp or fine chain when there is a genuine need to restore it.
3 – “Need” here does not mean the absence of alternatives such as iron, brass, or copper; rather, it refers to any purpose served by the repair other than decoration, beautification, or enhancing the vessel’s appearance.