Sūrah Az-Zukhruf Ornaments of Gold

الزخرف

Al-Qurṭubī uses this surah's discussion of gold and worldly adornment to derive the detailed school rulings on the prohibition of gold and silk for men, and the permitted categories of ornamentation.

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahAz-ZukhrufMeccanWorldly adornment contrasted with eternal values

Key Fiqh IssueGold and silk prohibition for menḤarām for men / permitted for womenGendered prohibition with nuances across schools

School ComparisonḤanafī: ḥarām for men; small amounts permitted (e.g., silver ring); Mālikī: gold ḥarām for men; Shāfiʿī: four-finger silk rule for men; Ḥanbalī: strictest all gold ḥarām for menḤarām / Permitted with limitsDefines permissible adornment categories for men

Uṣūl PrincipleNaṣṣ with istisnāʾ prohibition text with permitted exceptionsḤarām with exceptionsHow exceptions are derived from prohibition texts

Al-Qurṭubī derives from this surah's contrast between gold's worldly allure and the eternal reward that gold and silk are ḥarām for men by Sunnah texts. He maps the four-school positions: the Ḥanafī school permits silver rings and small silver ornaments for men but prohibits gold entirely; the Mālikī and Shāfiʿī schools similarly prohibit gold and silk for men with the Shāfiʿī four-finger exception for silk borders; the Ḥanbalī school is strictest in prohibiting any gold ornamentation for men.

Al-Qurṭubī applies the istisnāʾ (exception) principle: the base prohibition (naṣṣ) covers gold and silk for men, but necessity and medical need can generate exceptions a gold tooth for a man missing his tooth is permitted by majority schools. The verse on women raised in adornments leads al-Qurṭubī to affirm the permissibility of gold for women without restriction, and to derive that gender is a legally operative distinction in adornment rulings.

أَوَمَن يُنَشَّأُ فِي الْحِلْيَةِ وَهُوَ فِي الْخِصَامِ غَيْرُ مُبِينٍ Awa-man yunashsaʾu fī l-ḥilyati wa-huwa fī l-khiṣāmi ghayru mubīn Meaning: "One brought up in ornaments and unable to make clear argument" Al-Qurṭubī: this verse implies that adornment (ḥilyah) is characteristic of women; al-Qurṭubī derives that gold and silk are permitted for women and prohibited for men as a distinction of gender roles in Islamic law.

وَجَعَلُوا الْمَلَائِكَةَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ عِبَادُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ إِنَاثًا Wa-jaʿalū l-malāʾikata lladhīna hum ʿibādu l-raḥmāni ināthā Meaning: "And they made the angels who are servants of the Most Merciful female" Al-Qurṭubī: this verse is not a fiqh source directly; it reinforces that attributing feminine characteristics inappropriately is blameworthy, which indirectly supports the gender-based distinction in adornment prohibitions.

Gold is ḥarām for men by consensus derived from Sunnah texts; this surah provides the Qurʾānic backdrop linking gold to femininity and worldly distraction.
Ḥanafī permits a silver signet ring for men (sunnah of the Prophet); gold ring is ḥarām.
Shāfiʿī permits silk borders up to four fingers wide for men narrower borders permissible for decoration; wider borders ḥarām.
Medical necessity can render a gold dental fixture permissible for men by majority consensus necessity principle applies.
Gold and silk are unrestricted for women al-Qurṭubī derives this from the verse linking adornment to women as a Qurʾānic description of the female condition.

Finished this lesson?