Why Can Men Wear Platinum but Not Gold?
Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Question
Why can men wear platinum, which is more expensive than gold, but are prohibited from wearing gold?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate. May Allah alleviate our difficulties and guide us to what pleases Him. Amin.
Wearing gold (metal) is prohibited for men because of the hadith textual evidence that espouses it. There is no prohibition in Islam’s sources to suggest that platinum (or other precious metals and stones) is prohibited for men. Other metals, therefore, remain permissible for men since the default ruling in such matters is permissibility, and Allah knows best.
Islamic Sacred Law is based on the Quran, Sunna, Scholarly Consensus, and Analogy (among other differed-upon proofs). While rational and critical thinking within the textual framework of Sacred Law is fundamental in Scholars’ arsenal, such rationality should always be guided by divine textual evidence, and Allah knows best.
The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Gold and silk have been permitted for the women of my community (umma) and forbidden for its men.” [Ahmad, Nasa’i, and Tirmidhi, who deemed it rigorously authenticated (sahih); this has been related in more than eight chains of transmission, which confirm each other]
Please visit this excellent related answer.
I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), where he taught.
Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Shaykh Muhammad Awama, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.
He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has been the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and, for six years, the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.
Shaykh Irshaad has fifteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic podcast, education, and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy Prophetic living and fitness.
