Are Wedding Rings Impermissible?
Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Question: Asslamu Alaykum
I am due to be married very soon. I was wondering if it is permissible to exchange wedding rings. I have read online that it is impermissible due to it originating from non-believers and is considered a religious symbol of bonding and love between a couple. If so, is exchanging and wearing wedding rings imitating non-believers and unlawful?
Answer: Wa ‘alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh
Thank you for your question.
Imitation
The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Whoever imitates a people, he is one of them’ (Abu Dawud). This issue of imitating the disbelievers and the morally corrupt is a topic which has been discussed at length by the Ulema. The upshot is that it is impermissible to imitate them in matters which are specific to their religious beliefs and practices. Matters which are not of this nature such as birthdays, Mother’s Day, clothing not representative of a religious symbol or practice, etc do not fall within this bracket as long as the do not affect one’s belief, and that they are not done out of a desire to be like the disbelievers in an element which Islam does not approve of.
Culture and society have a big impact on this as well: there are some matters which have a particular significance in one time or place, yet none at all in another. In the latter scenario adopting a particular practice, clothing, etc is not considered to be the forbidden form of imitation.
Wedding Bands
Wedding rings, in our time, carry no religious significance in and of themselves. They are simply a cultural declaration of one’s being married, and little more. Therefore, wearing a wedding ring is permissible for both men and women. However, it should be noted that according to the Ḥanafī school it is superior for a man not to wear a ring -except on the two Eids. However, the Shāfiʿī school does allow this should one wish to do so.
(al-Mawsu’a al-Kwaitiyya, Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, Ahmad al-Tahtawi, Hashiya Maraqi al-Falah).
Allah knows best.
May Allah bless you with the best of both worlds.
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 to study and sit at the feet of some of the most erudite scholars of our time.
Over the following eighteen months he studied a traditional curriculum, studying with scholars such as Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh Abdurrahman Arjan, Shaykh Hussain Darwish and Shaykh Muhammad Darwish.
In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years, in Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Shama’il, and Logic with teachers such as Dr Ashraf Muneeb, Dr Salah Abu’l-Hajj, Dr Hamza al-Bakri, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Dr Mansur Abu Zina amongst others. He was also given two licences of mastery in the science of Qur’anic recital by Shakh Samir Jabr and Shaykh Yahya Qandil.
His true passion, however, arose in the presence of Shaykh Ali Hani, considered by many to be one of the foremost tafsir scholars of our time who provided him with the keys to the vast knowledge of the Quran. With Shaykh Ali, he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Qur’anic Sciences, Tafsir, Arabic Grammar, and Rhetoric.
When he finally left Jordan for the UK in 2014, Shaykh Ali gave him his distinct blessing and still recommends students in the UK to seek out Shaykh Abdul-Rahim for Quranic studies. Since his return he has trained as a therapist and has helped a number of people overcome emotional and psychosomatic issues. He is a keen promoter of emotional and mental health.
