Metal or Iron Rings

From all the above narrations, which are authentic and reliable, and tenable as evidence for practice, it is established that rings of gold and metal have been forbidden for menfolk by the Messenger of Allah, while silver rings were permitted.

THE APPLICATION OF QIYAAS OR ANALOGICAL REASONING

Clearly platinum is not mentioned directly in any hadith simply because it was not yet discovered in those days. I shall now proceed to explain how Ulema arrive at answers for all the many things not mentioned explicitly in Quran and Sunnah, and in the process readers will understand why it is unreasonable and impractical to demand a direct and explicit ruling for every single issue from Quran and Sunnah. There is a process of deduction in Shariah called qiyas or analogical reasoning. This is a process of extrapolating principles of Quran and Hadith to deduce rulings on new issues, and this procedure has been adopted and sanctioned by The Messenger of Allah himself, and as a consequence, is unanimously agreed upon by Ulema of all times.

PROOF OF THE QIYAS PROCEDURE FROM AUTHENTIC AHAADITH

Imam Bukhari (may the Mercy of Allah be upon him) set up a chapter in his Saheeh captioned: The Chapter on one who likens a known principle to a principle explained by Allah Under this heading he brings a hadith wherein a lady queries from The Messenger of Allah the permissibility of performing hajj on behalf of her dead mother who had vowed to fulfill the pilgrimmage. Normally Rasoolullah (alayhis salaam) would only answer a question once he had received revelation on the matter. In this case, however, he proceeded to deduce the ruling from another Islamic concept. He (alayhis salaam) said to the woman: "If there were debts of your mother still outstanding, would you be required to pay those?" She answered in the affirmative. He then said: "Well, Allah is more deserving of fulfillment." In this case the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) drew an analogy between the fulfillment of debts and the fulfillment of outstanding Hajj. Both are dues to be paid in. The ruling of the former was known and established in Shariah. The latter issue was a new one. He extrapolated the ruling of the latter from the former.

Imam Bukhari mentions another hadith under this chapter, in which he states that a bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and said, "My wife has delivered a black boy, and I suspect that he is not my child." The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said to him, "Do you possess camels?" The bedouin said, "Yes." The Prophet said, "What color are they?" The bedouin said, "They are reddish brown." The Prophet said, "Are any of them greyish in colour?" He said, "There are grey ones among them." The Prophet said, "Whence do you think this color came to them?" The bedouin said, "O Allah's Apostle! It resulted from hereditary disposition." The Prophet said, "And this (i.e., your child) has inherited his color from his ancestors." The Prophet did not allow him to deny his paternity of the child. - Again the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) employed a logical reasoning based on a known principle. Imam Bukhari produced these two hadith by way of example to prove that Islam has allowed the application of analogies provided these are based on principles derived from Quran and Hadith. Analogies that stem from personal opinion and whim will be rejected outrightly. Imam Bukhari, too, condemned this second, unlawful type of analogy in the same section, where he states: The Chapter on condemnation of opinion and logical reasoning - There are strict rules that govern such reasoning, and the deductive reasoning condemned above is that form wherein the rules and conditions are not applied. For this reason the laymen who has not studied these rules and conditions in detail will not be allowed to make such deductive reasoning.

It is reported by Imam Tirmizhi, Abu Dawood and others, that when The Messenger of Alllah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) sent Mu'aaz bin Jabal (radhiyallahu anhu) to Yemen as a governor, he asked him: "How would you rule among people?" Mu'aaz replied: 'By The Book of Allah.' The Messenger of Allah then enquired: "And what if you don't find your ruling in the Book of Allah?" He replied: 'I shall then look at the Sunnah of His Messenger.' Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) then asked: 'And if you do not find a ruling there either?" Mu'aaz answered: 'I shall use my powers of discretion and deduction.' The Messenger of Allah praised him for this attitude. This proves that qiyas or the Islamic form of analogical reasoning is part and parcel of Shariah. Again, the condition for such logical inference is that it must be based on Quran and Sunnah.

THE NEED FOR SHARIAH BASED QIYAAS

The need for such deduction or inference in order to arrive at a ruling is due to the fact that platinum is not mentioned in any Quranic text or tradition of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) . It has to be acknowledged that over the last 1000 years there emerged a large number of new practices and developments which were not directly mentioned or dealt with in the Quran and Hadith .Regarding such new occurrences, we either refuse to acknowledge that Islam has provided a solution to these new problem affecting Muslims, or we endeavour to find the answers from our scriptural texts. People of narrow vision who obstinately insist upon clear explicit rulings from Quran and Hadith might opt for the former. If so, such an acknowledgment is tantamount to suggesting that Islam is not a complete religion or that it does not cater for a changing world or that Islamic teaching was confined to the early centuries of the world only and made no provisions for later generations. Such a suggestion is a terrible indictment against this all-pervading, comprehensive Deen of ours. Islam is a complete and perfect code of life for all nations and communities, and for all times.

On the other hand, if one claims that Islam does provide the solutions to these problems, it devolves upon the learned people to search for the answers in the Quran an Hadith. There is, then, only one way of acquiring an Islamic solution to a new issue in order for us to adopt a clear practice, and that is the extrapolation of principles and precedents that already exist in Quran and Hadith and applying the same to the new problem. The position of such analogical reasoning is as strong as any verse in the Quran or Hadith of Rasoolullah (S.A.W.). Examples of relatively new or contemporary issues wherein the Ulema and Jurists of Islam had applied such deductive reasoning are: the prohibition of drugs, marijuana, cocaine, etc. by drawing an analogy between these and wine; the validity of a fast when injected with medicine by likening this to a snake bite, which does not invalidate the fast; prohibition of banking-related interest (which never existed in former times) by drawing an analogy between it and the usury prohibted in the Quran; the prohibition of betting on races based on gambling that is clearly forbidden in The Quran; many business transactions which resemble the practices in vogue during the times of the Sahaaba, and so forth. The scope of this article does not permit us to extend this list, but we can assure readers that the institution of deductive reasoning is as entrenched in shariah as Quran and Hadith.

EXTRACTION OF THE RULING FOR PLATINUM

In order to understand the ruling of platinum, we need to search the Quran and Hadith for the mention of a similar metal. We thus find quite elaborate mention of this in the ahaadith, as cited at the start of this treatise. This much is established that platinum belongs to the same group of precious metals as copper, brass, etc. In the hadith, the closest we come to platinum is copper, as mentioned in Hadith numbers 5 and 9. Although copper and platinum don’t have the same composition and characteristics, but they do share a common ground, the fact both belong to the group of metals that are extracted through a mining process from the earth. Copper, brass, and iron or metal are clearly discouraged in the hadith. We need to know whether platinum is permissible or not. By drawing an analogy between it and the other metals we are able to place a ruling on platinum. Platinum is a metal, and rings made of metal such as copper or brass are prohibited, hence platinum, too, should be prohibited. The only metal allowed is silver and gold, for we do not find any scope for the permissibility of alternate precious metals from the any abovementioned ahaadith. That is why Imam Muhammed and other former Jurists of Islam prohibited all other metals in jewellery besides gold and silver.

If anyone suggests that platinum could be likened to gold and silver for it resembles these in value and in the process of extraction through mining, etc. then we would meet this objection as follows: Copper and brass, too, are of significant value and are mined. If these are the only criterior to be adopted in order that a ruling may be issued then why were these specifically singled out for prohibition in the hadith of Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)? Adopting this argument results in a serious contradiction in the hadith, a concept which is unthinkable to any Muslim. The words of our Messenger are not self-conflicting and contradictory. Every statement is clear and has a lucid purport. The very fact that gold and silver were grouped together, as opposed to copper and brass is evidence enough that the former two precious metals are in a category of its own. That is why the former Jurists of Islam ruled that all metals, no matter how precious, besides gold and silver, are outside the pale of permissibility. Those Jurists understood the implication of the hadith when gold and silver were permitted, while copper, brass and iron or metal were banned. (Note: The wearing or use of gold in any form is permissible only for women, not for men. However, men may trade in gold, for this was allowed by The Messenger of Allah)

The question does arise as to why were gold and silver specially permitted. However, this question is beyond the scope of our discussion. At this stage we are not concerned with underlying reasons, our aim to establish which metals are allowed and which are not. Despite the fact that this is akin to questioning the very basis of Islam, the reasons for permissibility or non do not affect or alter our ruling in any way. If wine or adultery is forbidden in clear-cut terms, whether we understand why or not will not change the status-quo of the ruling.

Finally, in spite the above evidence and proof, should anyone still remain unappeased with my disputation then I direct such an individual to the following statement of our Beloved Master, as appears in Saheeh Al-Bukhari and Saheeh Al-Muslim: The Halaal are clear and the Haraam are clear, and between them lie doubtful things. So whosoever abstains from these doubtful things shall purge his Deen and his honour.....

At the very least, platinum will fall under 'doubtful' items since it has no clear ruling in the Quran and Hadith. The hadith has made it quite clear then, as to which route to take. May Allah guide us to the understanding of Deen. And Allah knows best, for His Knowledge is Absolute.

Siraj Desai
Port Elizabeth
South Africa