Mufti Abu Layth Archive: fiqh/dress-and-appearance/jewellery-gold-and-silk

Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Early imams including Malik wore earrings as boys; Malik disliked golden earrings for boys because of the gold, not the earring. Mufti Abu Layth says many of the great imams of the early period, Imam Malik among them, used to wear earrings.

Answer from 10 March 2023 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: The Legendary Imam Malik Ibn Anas | Mufti Abu Layth (at 12:43)

A more recent answer on history/scholars-and-imams/imam-malik exists (19 April 2023): Did Imam Malik reject the hadith he did not act on?

Watch on YouTube at 13:23 · Open the segment

A mufti's clip on ear piercing: 'decency', 'manipulation' and muthla

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A mufti's clip on ear piercing: 'decency', 'manipulation' and muthla

Mufti Abu Layth mocks a mufti's argument that piercing beyond the earlobe is abnormal and amounts to muthla, saying muthla means disfiguring a body, not piercing it.

Answer from 16 February 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #202| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:53:05)

A more recent answer on fiqh/dress-and-appearance/jewellery-gold-and-silk exists (10 March 2023): Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Watch on YouTube at 1:53:05 · Open the segment

Can men wear gold?

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Can men wear gold?

Men can wear gold, in Mufti Abu Layth's understanding; the Prophet discouraged it because Medina needed to stay on a war footing. Mufti Abu Layth says that men can wear gold in his understanding.

Answer from 2 February 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #200| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 16:35)

A more recent answer on history/sirah exists (9 May 2023): How did the Prophet balance gentleness and strength?

Watch on YouTube at 16:35 · Open the segment

Is it haram for men to wear necklaces, rings or earrings?

Wed, 09 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Is it haram for men to wear necklaces, rings or earrings?

Mufti Abu Layth disagrees with Yasir Qadhi that men's jewellery is effeminate, saying men have always worn it and Western executives are no benchmark for Islamic etiquette.

Answer from 9 December 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Reaction to Yasir Qadhi on mens jewellery | Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on relationships/masculinity-and-gender-roles exists (9 May 2023): How did the Prophet balance gentleness and strength?

Watch on YouTube at 1:15 · Open the segment

Is it haram for a man to wear an earring?

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Is it haram for a man to wear an earring?

No: men's earrings are permissible, with the precedent of Hasan, Husayn, Imam Malik and Sufyan ibn Uyayna, and the later scholars who opposed them were likely influenced by outside traditions. Mufti Abu Layth accepts that others may call it haram but says the evidence speaks for itself. Mufti Abu Layth concludes that wearing earrings is permissible for men, with the precedent of Hasan, Husayn, Imam Malik and Sufyan ibn Uyayna, that the later ulama's opposition may reflect the influence of the Christian church or other traditions, and that calling it imitation of women is an arbitrary claim.

Answer from 24 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Holistic Overview: Can Men Wear Earrings? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 36:38)

A more recent answer on fiqh/dress-and-appearance/jewellery-gold-and-silk exists (10 March 2023): Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Watch on YouTube at 36:38 · Open the segment

Can reports from Shia sources about Hasan and Husayn be trusted?

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Can reports from Shia sources about Hasan and Husayn be trusted?

Mufti Abu Layth accepts the reports as factual, saying the Shia had no reason to invent earrings for their own Imams, and calls it hypocrisy that Sunnis accept Imran ibn Hittan, a Khariji who praised Ali's killer, as a narrator in Sahih al-Bukhari while rejecting anything from Imam Jafar al-Sadiq. Mufti Abu Layth says he believes Hasan and Husayn wore earrings, that dismissing every Shia report as a lie is prejudice, and that accepting the Khariji narrator Imran ibn Hittan, who praised Ali's killer, in Sahih al-Bukhari while rejecting Imam Jafar's reports is a hypocrisy.

Answer from 24 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Holistic Overview: Can Men Wear Earrings? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 31:22)

A more recent answer on hadith/authentication/narrator-criticism exists (19 April 2023): Why does the practice of Madinah matter more than a single hadith?

Watch on YouTube at 31:22 · Open the segment

Is a man wearing an earring imitating women or harmful?

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Is a man wearing an earring imitating women or harmful?

No: Qadi Khan of the Hanafis allowed boys' earrings since the jahiliyya practice went uncriticised by the Prophet, the harm argument cannot permit piercing for girls and forbid it for boys, and history shows men wearing earrings. Men wearing kohl shows that what is 'effeminate' is a cultural matter. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the objections to men's earrings fail: if piercing is permitted for girls the harm argument cannot forbid it for boys, the imitation-of-women claim ignores thousands of years of men wearing earrings, and men wearing kohl shows that what counts as effeminate is a cultural matter.

Answer from 24 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Holistic Overview: Can Men Wear Earrings? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 27:25)

A more recent answer on fiqh/legal-theory exists (18 October 2025): If reason helps us understand the Quran, does the reasoning of earlier scholars matter too?

Watch on YouTube at 27:25 · Open the segment

What did Imam Malik and the Maliki jurists say about boys wearing earrings?

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

What did Imam Malik and the Maliki jurists say about boys wearing earrings?

Malik preferred that boys not wear gold earrings, which Ibn Rushd explains as a ruling about gold rather than earrings, and Maliki theft rulings by al-Lakhmi and Ibn Abi Zayd treat an earring stolen from a boy as an ordinary case. Mufti Abu Layth concludes that boys wearing earrings was common and not seen as feminine. Mufti Abu Layth says that Malik's reported preference against gold earrings for boys concerned the gold rather than the earring, and that the Maliki theft rulings of al-Lakhmi and Ibn Abi Zayd about earrings stolen from boys show that boys commonly wore them and the early generations did not treat earrings as restricted to women.

Answer from 24 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Holistic Overview: Can Men Wear Earrings? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 22:12)

A more recent answer on fiqh/maliki-school exists (19 April 2023): Why does the practice of Madinah matter more than a single hadith?

Watch on YouTube at 22:12 · Open the segment

Did Imam Malik wear an earring?

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Did Imam Malik wear an earring?

Yes: his teacher's biography of Imam Malik records that Malik, while still a youth studying with Rabi'a, had an earring in his ear, and another Maliki work on the hadith of the Mudawwana says the same. Mufti Abu Layth says that Imam Malik wore an earring as a young man while studying with Rabi'a, as recorded in his teacher Abd al-Ghani al-Daqr's biography of Malik and in another Maliki source.

Answer from 24 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Holistic Overview: Can Men Wear Earrings? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 19:33)

A more recent answer on history/scholars-and-imams/imam-malik exists (19 April 2023): Did Imam Malik reject the hadith he did not act on?

Watch on YouTube at 19:33 · Open the segment

Did early Sunni hadith scholars such as Sufyan ibn Uyayna wear earrings?

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Did early Sunni hadith scholars such as Sufyan ibn Uyayna wear earrings?

Yes: the Musnad of Abu Ya'la records a hadith student wearing two earrings, and al-Dhahabi's Siyar A'lam al-Nubala describes the young Sufyan ibn Uyayna sitting in Amr ibn Dinar's hadith class with an earring in his ear.

Answer from 24 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Holistic Overview: Can Men Wear Earrings? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 16:58)

A more recent answer on fiqh/dress-and-appearance/jewellery-gold-and-silk exists (10 March 2023): Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Watch on YouTube at 16:58 · Open the segment

Did Hasan and Husayn wear earrings?

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Did Hasan and Husayn wear earrings?

Ibn Abbas lists piercing the ear among seven sunnahs for a newborn boy, and Hasan and Husayn had their ears pierced and wore earrings, Husayn wearing two. The reports come through Imam Jafar al-Sadiq's chain and an eyewitness account from Karbala. Mufti Abu Layth says that the Prophet's grandsons Hasan and Husayn had their ears pierced and wore earrings, Husayn wearing two, as Shia traditions through Imam Jafar al-Sadiq and accounts of Karbala relate.

Answer from 24 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Holistic Overview: Can Men Wear Earrings? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 13:00)

A more recent answer on fiqh/dress-and-appearance/jewellery-gold-and-silk exists (10 March 2023): Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Watch on YouTube at 13:00 · Open the segment

Did men and boys wear earrings in the time of the Prophet and the early Muslims?

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Did men and boys wear earrings in the time of the Prophet and the early Muslims?

In the Prophet's society and among the Salaf boys commonly wore earrings, and many considered it sunnah for a boy. Later Sunni clergy prohibited the practice, perhaps influenced by the Christian church, while the Shia kept it alive. Mufti Abu Layth says that boys commonly wore earrings in the Prophet's time and among the Salaf, that later Sunni clergy prohibited the practice perhaps under the influence of the Christian church, and that the Shia kept it alive.

Answer from 24 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Holistic Overview: Can Men Wear Earrings? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 10:22)

A more recent answer on fiqh/dress-and-appearance/jewellery-gold-and-silk exists (10 March 2023): Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Watch on YouTube at 10:22 · Open the segment

Have men historically worn earrings, or is it a recent fashion?

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Have men historically worn earrings, or is it a recent fashion?

Men have worn earrings for thousands of years, in Assyria, Egypt, among the Israelites, in Persia, India and Europe, usually as a mark of nobility or soldiery. Only the European church restricted them to women, which is why defiant groups such as pirates kept wearing them. Mufti Abu Layth says that men across the ancient world, from Assyria and Egypt to Persia, India and Europe, wore earrings for thousands of years, often as a mark of nobility or soldiery, and that their restriction to women in Europe came from the church.

Answer from 24 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Holistic Overview: Can Men Wear Earrings? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:37)

A more recent answer on fiqh/dress-and-appearance/jewellery-gold-and-silk exists (10 March 2023): Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Watch on YouTube at 2:37 · Open the segment

Can men wear earrings in Islam?

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Can men wear earrings in Islam?

Yes, men may wear earrings according to Islam. Mufti Abu Layth sets out to show, through history and the practice of the Salaf, that the idea that earrings are effeminate is a misconception. Mufti Abu Layth holds that men may wear earrings according to Islam, and that the idea that earrings are effeminate or exclusive to women is a misconception.

Answer from 24 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Holistic Overview: Can Men Wear Earrings? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on fiqh/dress-and-appearance/jewellery-gold-and-silk exists (10 March 2023): Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Is it haram for men to wear gold or silk?

Tue, 10 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Is it haram for men to wear gold or silk?

In Mufti Abu Layth's view the prohibition of gold and silk for men is a matter of dislike (karaha), not a categorical haram, since many Companions wore both all their lives and the Prophet's aim was to keep people focused in hard times. He notes the popular opinion is that it is haram and says nobody has to follow his understanding. Mufti Abu Layth says he is in line with the ulama who held that the Prophet's prohibition of gold and silk for men was a matter of karaha intended to keep the early community focused and away from luxury in a dangerous time, not a categorical haram, while noting that the popular opinion is that it is haram.

Answer from 10 July 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Why it is Not Haram for Men to Wear Gold or Silk -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on fiqh/legal-theory exists (18 October 2025): If reason helps us understand the Quran, does the reasoning of earlier scholars matter too?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Mon, 05 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

It is not haram for men to wear earrings, though it is not the general custom. Boys wore them in the early period, and Imam Malik objected only to gold, not to the earring. Mufti Abu Layth holds that it is not haram for men to wear earrings, although it is not the general custom, noting that boys wore them in the medieval period and that Imam Malik objected only to a boy wearing gold, not to the earring itself.

Answer from 5 March 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Fatwa: Can men wear earrings? - Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on fiqh/dress-and-appearance/jewellery-gold-and-silk exists (10 March 2023): Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment