This, then, is what is meant by the hadith recorded by al-Nasa’i 2/585 and Ahmad 4/92, 95, 99: “The Messenger of Allah forbade wearing gold except in *maqatta* (fragmented pieces).” Its chain of transmission is sound and, on that basis, it concerns women specifically. Ibn al-Athir’s wording, however, suggests that it is general for both women and men, so that in his view fragmented gold would be permissible for everyone. He writes: “What is intended is a small amount, such as a ring (al-hilqa) or a *shanaf*—an ear ornament—and the like; he disapproved of a large amount, which is the habit of the wasteful, the vainglorious, and the arrogant. The small amount is that on which zakat is not due.” I have two comments on this interpretation: First: Including a ring among the items called *maqatta* contradicts the root meaning of the word—cutting, the opposite of joining—and also conflicts with the earlier hadiths that forbid rings even for women, let alone for men. Imam Ahmad likewise interpreted *maqatta* as “a small amount,” yet he did not illustrate it with a ring or anything similar. Rather, when his son Abd Allah asked him, “What about a ring (al-khatam)?” he replied, “It is reported that the Prophet forbade a gold ring.” See Masa’il related by his son, p. 398. It appears that the scholar Abu al-Hasan al-Sindi noticed this point, for he said: “His statement ‘except *maqatta*’ means broken, severed pieces; what is meant is a very small amount, such as a tooth or something as thin as the letter *alif*. Allah knows best.”