that was patched, together with a coarse waist-wrapper. She said, “The soul of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was taken while he was wearing these two garments.”
He wore a gold ring, then cast it aside and forbade wearing gold rings. He then acquired a silver ring and did not forbid wearing it (1).
As for the report in Abū Dāwūd (2), stating that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prohibited several things, including that “he forbade wearing a ring except for someone in authority,” I do not know the report’s status or how it is to be understood. Allah knows best.
He used to wear his ring with its stone facing the inside of his palm.
Al-Tirmidhī (3) reported that he would remove his ring when entering the privy, and graded the report as authentic. Abū Dāwūd, however, rejected it (4).
(1) Reported by al-Bukhārī (5865, 5866), from Ibn ‘Umar. See Tahdhīb al-Sunan (3:77–79).
(2) Abū Dāwūd (4049); also reported by al-Nasā’ī in al-Sunan al-Kubrā (9313), from Abū Rayhāna, may Allah be pleased with him. Its chain includes Abū ‘Āmir al-Ma‘āfirī, an unknown narrator on whom the hadith’s transmission hinges.
(3) Al-Tirmidhī (1746). Ibn Hibbān (1413) and Ibn al-Turkumānī (1:95) also graded it authentic. Al-Mundhirī said, as quoted in al-Talkhīs al-Habīr (1:284): “In my view, the correct judgment is to grade it authentic, since its narrators are trustworthy and highly accurate.” The author said in Tahdhīb al-Sunan (1:28): “At most, it is gharīb (singularly transmitted); it is neither munkar (rejected) nor shādhdh (anomalous).” However, none of the arguments they advanced to strengthen it outweigh the defects identified by the leading hadith masters and expert critics. See the following note.
(4) Following hadith (19). Abū Dāwūd added: “The only known report is that transmitted by Ibn Jurayj, from Ziyād ibn Sa‘d, from al-Zuhrī, from Anas: the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, acquired a silver ring and then cast it aside. The error is Hammām’s, and he alone transmitted it.” Al-Bukhārī referred to Ziyād ibn Sa‘d’s narration following hadith (5868), and Muslim reported it (2093/60). Al-Bayhaqī (1:94, 95) agreed with Abū Dāwūd, then cited a corroborating report, which he also graded weak. Al-Dāraqutnī expressed a similar judgment in his ‘Ilal (2587), discussing the matter at considerable length. Al-Nasā’ī said in al-Sunan al-Kubrā, following hadith (9470): “This hadith is not reliably preserved. Allah knows best.”