Gold (dhahab) in the rulings

الذهب (في الفقه)

Gold is a known metal. ¹ Men are forbidden to wear gold ornaments or a gold ring, except from necessity, such as a gold nose or tooth; women may wear gold; eating and drinking from gold vessels is forbidden; zakat is due on it; and gold may be exchanged for gold only hand to hand and weight for weight. ² ³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ The majority set the threshold for the amputation of a thief at a quarter of a dinar of gold. ⁷

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Prophetic Era
Region: Global / Diaspora
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Law and courts Worship and the pillars

Summary

Gold is a known metal. ¹ Men may not wear gold ornaments or a gold ring except from necessity; women may wear gold ornaments. ² ⁴ The majority allow a gold tooth, and a gold nose by a text, while the Shafi'is forbid a gold finger made only for ornament. ⁸ ³ ⁴

Vessels, Qur'an and mosques

Eating and drinking from gold or silver vessels is forbidden, and the majority forbid keeping them. ⁴ ⁵ Decorating books with gold is forbidden except for the Qur'an, where the schools differ. ⁶

Zakat and exchange

Zakat is due on gold by agreement. ⁶ Gold may be sold for gold only hand to hand and weight for weight, and gold may be sold for silver with unequal weights hand to hand. ⁶ ⁹

Theft

For the amputation of a thief the majority require a quarter of a gold dinar or more; the Hanafis require a full dinar. ⁷

People and things also explored

God's debt (dayn Allah): obligations owed to God that remain in the liability· Slaughter (dhaba'ih): the lawful killing of animals for food in fiqh· Taste (dhawq) in the rulings: fasting, injury to it, and oaths· Halak (destruction of property and its legal effect)· Hay'a (the recommended forms of prayer, and the dignified offenders)· The no-harm maxim· The Prophet's written charge to Amr ibn Hazm on sending him to Yemen· The ruling on one who abandons prayer

Sources

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8487
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8488
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8490
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8491
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8492
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8494
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8497
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8489
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8495

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Gold (dhahab) in the rulings”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/dhahab-fiqh/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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God's debt (dayn Allah): obligations owed to God that remain in the liability

God's debt is a right of God that stays in the liability of the obligated person, with no human claimant: vows, expiations, the zakat of fast-breaking, pilgrimage, fasting, and a prayer whose time has passed, all of which must be made up. A right of God becomes a debt in the liability when its time passes before performance, when the due property is destroyed, or when the person was unable to perform it when it fell due. Financial debts to God may be paid by a proxy by agreement; bodily worship may not be done for the living, and the schools differ on proxies for the dead. The schools also differ on whether it binds the estate of the dead, whether it blocks zakat, and whether it lapses through hardship, apostasy or death.