Fatwa ID: 04108

Answered by: Maulana Naieem Mohammad

Question

Just need the ruling about getting a gold crown from the dentist.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

Concerning the usage of gold, the Prophet (s.a.w) has given clear and specific rulings.

`Ali (r.a) reported that the Prophet (s.a.w) took some silk in his right hand and some gold in his left, declaring, “These two are haram for the males among my followers.”[1] There is an additional phrase, “but halal for the females,” in another Hadith.

The Prophet (s.a.w) once saw a gold ring on a man’s hand. He immediately took it from him and threw it down saying, “Does a person pick up a piece of burning coal and hold it in his hand?” After the Prophet (s.a.w) had left the place, someone asked the man, “Why do you not pick it up and benefit from it?” He replied, “No, by Allah! I shall not pick it up after the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) has thrown it away.” [2]

The same prohibition which applies to the gold ring likewise applies to what we observe amongst all other non-essential items.

The above narrations establish the following:

1. The basic principle of gold is that its use is Haram for Muslim men.
2.  The use of gold is Permissible for Muslim Women.
3. Muslim women have no restrictions as to their usage.

Within the guidelines of the framework of the Hanafi Fiqh, there are rulings which state,

• “Situations of difficulties open the possibilities to give concessions” [3]
• “When matters become temporarily constraint, we are given an allowance to find a temporary loophole’’ [4]
• “Dire needs give temporary permissibility" [5]

The following hadith shows that some allowance was considered by the Prophet (s.a.w) due to necessity:

‘Urfujah ibn As‘ad (r.a) said: My nose was cut off on the day of (the battle of) al-Kulaab during Jaahiliyyah, so I had a nose made of silver. It began to smell bad so the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) told me to get a nose made of gold.[6]

The above framework shows us the allowance and tolerance of the shariah towards temporary or even the critical needs of a person.

• If the dentist involved is a trustworthy and experienced person in the field, and he has recommended that a golden tooth, crown, or screw has to be used due to other metals being harmful or ineffective, then it will be permissible to use gold for the procedure.
• If other metals can do the same job or other materials such as ceramic can be used, then there is no allowance in that case.

Only Allah knows best

Written by Maulana Naieem Mohammad

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham