Chapter: Vessels

He was asked about copper vessels inlaid with silver—such as bowls and the like: are they subject to the same ruling as gold and silver vessels?

He replied:

Praise be to Allah. As for vessels reinforced with silver and comparable implements—whether or not an individual item is called a vessel—and similar articles, such as incense burners, braziers, basins, candlesticks, and the like: if the silver fitting is small and serves a need, such as repairing a cracked drinking cup or fitting a small fastening piece to a knife, and similar fittings that are not themselves directly used, there is no harm in that.

What the jurists mean by “need” here is that the particular fitting is needed, as with the repair of a drinking cup or the fastening piece of a knife, whether it is made of silver, copper, iron, or something else. They do not mean that it needs to be made specifically of silver. Rather, in cases like this, they call that “necessity.” Necessity permits gold and silver to be used both on their own and as part of something else. Thus, if someone needs to bind his teeth with gold, or have a nose made of gold, or something similar, that is permissible—as established in the Sunnah—even though it is gold and is used on its own.

Likewise, if he can find nothing to drink except what is in a gold or silver vessel, he is permitted to