Question:
Assalamu’alaykum ww yaa Shaykh Gibril,
Regarding an article on eshaykh it is said that it is sunnah for men to wear a ring on little finger, however we also see that Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Hisham (q) wear their ring on ring finger. Please share the wisdom.
Thank you, wassalam.
Answer:
`Alaykum salam,
The article you cite mentions two issues. The following reply addresses the second issue only.
Imam al-Nawawi’s statement, “The Muslims agreed that the Sunnah for men is to wear rings on their little fingers” is based on the hadith that, “the Holy Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) wore his ring on the little finger of the left hand” (Sahih Muslim, Sunan al-Nasa’i, Musnad Ahmad etc.). However, this is not meant in exclusive terms but only that whoever does this is following the Sunnah.
As for wearing the ring on the fourth finger (of either hand), there is a difference of opinion, for and against.
Shaykh `Abd Allah al-Lahji in Muntaha al-Sul (1:547), his large commentary on al-Nabhani’s Wasa’il al-Wusul ila Shama’il al-Rasul, said, “there is no hadith whatsoever mentioning the fourth finger, whether narrated from the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) or from one of the Companions… therefore the Sunnah is to wear it on the little finger.”
However, the claim that there is no such hadith is incorrect in light of the following:
(i) The hadith of Sayyidina `Ali (Allah ennoble his face), “The Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) forbade me from wearing a ring on this finger and this finger,” and he pointed to the index and the middle finger (Sahih Muslim). This shows that the thumb, fourth, and fifth fingers are permissible;
(ii) The hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash`ari (Allah be well-pleased with him): “The Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) saw me switching my ring from my index finger to my middle finger and said: “Wearing a ring is only for this finger and this finger,” and he pointed to the little finger (khinsir) and the fourth finger (binsir) (Musnad al-Ruyani 1:324 ยง490). This confirms the previous hadith for the fourth and fifth fingers, excluding the thumb.
Hence the correct position is that of Shaykh Sulayman al-Jamal in his commentary on al-Tirmidhi’s Shama’il where he said, “the Sunnah is being followed as long as the ring is on one of the last two fingers of the hand” as we already mentioned here.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
