Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
The Prophet (peace be upon him) used the seal in the latter part of the sixth year of Hijrah when he started writing letters to the kings and leaders in which he called them to the religion of Allāh. This is because when he wanted to write to the Romans, he was advised that they do not read letters without seals on them. For that reason, he made a seal.
87. Anas ibn Mālik narrated: “The ring (i.e. seal) of Allāh’s Messenger (peace be upon him) was made of silver and its gem stone was Abyssinian.” [103]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
This indicates that it is permissible for men to wear silver rings.
Al-Bajūrī said,
The Prophet (peace be upon him) had two seals that the reader of this book needs to distinguish; the seal of prophethood, which is the area of raised skin between his shoulders and the seal of the Prophet, which is the seal he used to stamp his letters.
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
It is permissible for men to wear rings; but it is disliked to wear more than two rings as stated by al-Daramī, but the latter view is disputed over.
The gem stone was described as Abyssinian because it was agate, and it was said that its colour was black, or that the one who made it was an Abyssinian.
The preference of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to wear rings made of silver made some of the renowned Shāfi’ī scholars deduce that it is disliked to wear rings made of iron or copper and they relied on many hadīths, one of which is the hadīth wherein the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw a man wearing a ring made of iron and said to him, “Why do you wear the jewellery of the people of Hell?” So the man removed it and then he came wearing a ring made of copper so he said to him, “Why do I smell the scent of idols coming from you?!” Upon which the man removed it.[104]
Al-Bayhaqī said, after narrating the hadīths that talk about the gem stone of the Prophet (peace be upon him) wherein some hadīths show that it was made of agate and others show that it was made of silver just like the ring, “These hadīths indicate that he had two rings, one of which the gem stone was agate and another of which the gem stone was silver.”
88. ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar narrated: “Allāh’s Messenger (peace be upon him) possessed a ring made of silver. He used it to stamp [his letters etc.], and did not wear it.” [105]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
The last part of this hadīth opposes the many hadīths that state the Prophet (peace be upon him) wore the seal. However, some scholars reconciled this hadīth with the other hadīths by saying that the ring referred to in this hadīth was not made of silver only but rather had other materials that are not permissible to wear such as iron. Imām Ahmad reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had a ring made of iron that had some silver on it that he threw away afterwards. Al-Hafith ibn Rajab commented on this hadīth by saying, “Perhaps, this was the ring that he used for stamping and sealing the letters but he never wore it.” In any case, if this addition (the last part of the hadīth) is proven to be authentic, then it is understood to refer to a particular case. Some other scholars considered the addition odd and rejected it.
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
The last part of this hadīth opposes the other hadīths which indicate that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to wear the ring on his right hand. However, this contradiction can be reconciled because [it appears] that he had two rings; one that had a gemstone with engraved words to stamp his letters, and this ring he did not wear, and another ring that he wore so that people follow his example. It is also possible that he did not wear it all the time or that he did not wear it at the beginning, and then wore it later to show the people that it is not intended for adornment.
89. Anas ibn Mālik narrated: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) had a ring made of silver and its stone was also of silver.” [106]
Alī al-Qārī said,
The ring that had a gem stone made of silver was the ring that the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered to be made for him. Al-Daraqutnī reported that Ya’la ibn Umayyah said, “I myself made for the Prophet (peace be upon him) a ring that no one else helped me with. I engraved on it, ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of Allāh.’”
Al-Bajūrī said,
The meaning of the last part of the hadīth is that the gemstone was part of the ring and not something external added to it.
90. Anas ibn Mālik narrated: “When the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) intended to write letters to the leaders of the non-Arabs [to invite them to Islām], he was advised that they do not accept letters without a seal (stamp) on them. For that reason, he had a ring made for himself. It is as if the brightness of [the ring] which was on his hand is still before my eyes.” [107]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
This hadīth shows the reason behind the Prophet (peace be upon him) wanting to have a ring (i.e. seal).
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
This incident took place after he (peace be upon him) returned from Hudaybiyyah. It is said that the person who advised the Prophet about the seal was a non-Arab or a person from the Quraysh.
The reason they did not accept unstamped letters was because it made them doubt the content or because the stamp indicated that the sender respected them, or that the stamp indicated that access to the contents of the letter was limited to certain people.
Al-Bajūrī said,
This hadīth indicates the permissibility of communication through letters. The first person reported to send a letter was Prophet Sulaymān when he sent the hoopoe to deliver his letter to Balqīs, the queen of Saba’. The act of the Prophet (peace be upon him) teaches us to do what people like and leave that which they dislike.
Alī al-Qārī said,
The part regarding the brightness of the ring indicates that it was made of silver, and it was said that it refers to the perfection of the ring.
91. Anas ibn Mālik narrated: “The inscription engraved on the ring of Allāh’s Messenger was ‘Muhammad’ on one line, ‘Messenger’ on the next, and ‘Allāh’ on the last.” [108]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
This shows that the inscription engraved on the ring consisted of three words, each written on a separate line.
Al-Bajūrī said,
The word “Muhammad” was written on the first line at the top and the other words were written below. This is supported by another narration reported by al-Isma’īlī that explicitly stated the order of the lines, and it is also the apparent meaning of the narration reported by al-Bukhārī.
92. Anas ibn Mālik related: “Allāh’s Messenger (peace be upon him) [intended to] write letters to Kisra [of the Persians), Caesar (of the Romans) and al-Najāshī (of the Abyssinians). The Prophet (peace be upon him) was advised that they do not accept letters without a stamp. For this reason, he (peace be upon him) had a ring made of silver, and had ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of Allāh’ engraved upon it.” [109]
Al-Bajūrī said,
Kisra was the title given to the kings of Persia. Caesar was the title given to the kings of the Romans. Al-Najāshī was the title given to the kings of Abyssinia. Pharaoh was the title given to the kings of the region of Copt in Egypt. Al-‘Azīz was the title given to the kings of Egypt. Tubba’ was the title given to the kings of the tribe of Himyar. Khaqan was the title given to the kings of the Turks.
93. Anas ibn Mālik related: “Whenever the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) entered the place where he relieved himself, he would remove his ring.” [110]
Alī al-Qārī said,
He (peace be upon him) used to remove his ring before entering the place where he relieved himself because the ring had the name of Allāh engraved on it.
Before gold was made forbidden for men to wear, the Prophet (peace be upon him) had a ring made of gold and so the people began to wear golden rings in imitation of him. When he became aware of this, he removed it and said that he would not wear a golden ring again and so the people followed suit. Then he wore a ring made of silver as an adornment, so people followed him in that. However, he saw that this may lead to arrogance and pride so he removed it and so did the people. Later on, he needed to wear a ring for the purpose of stamping letters so he wore it but he said to the people, “I have made myself a ring and engraved on it some words; so do not engrave on your rings [the same words I have used].”
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
It is disliked to keep the Name of Allāh in ones possession whilst being in the place where people relieve themselves, and it was said that this is forbidden. The same ruling applies to anything that is glorified in religion such as the Qur’ān, the name of a prophet or an angel. As for names that people use that are also the names of prophets [or angels etc.] such as Muhammad, then the ruling is based on the intention of the person. If the intention is that it is a normal person’s name then it is permissible but if it is intended to refer to one who is glorified in the religion, then it is disliked.
94. ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar narrated: “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) had a ring made of silver that he wore on his hand. Then, [after the death of the Prophet], Abū Bakr wore it on his hand, and then [after the death of Abū Bakr] ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab kept it and wore it on his hand. Then [after the death of ‘Umar], ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affan kept it and wore it until it fell into the well of Arīs. The inscription on the ring was ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of Allāh.’” [111]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
The well of Arīs is a well in a garden located near the Masjid al-Qubā’. The ring fell when ‘Uthmān was moving the ring on his finger while standing at the edge of the well. He spent three days, along with his companions, searching for it but they could not find it. Thus, the claim that the ring was found is a baseless claim and to prove something is from the belongings of the Prophet (peace be upon him) requires authentic evidence.
Al-Bajūrī said,
This hadīth shows that it is permissible to use a seal that has the name of someone else engraved on it after their death.
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
The seal of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was not from his heritance because it was treated like his weapons that were allocated as a charity for the Muslims that the ruler would utilise in the way that serves their best interest. This is why Abū Bakr, Umar and Uthmān used it as it was from the tools that the Caliphate needed.
None of our fellow Shāfi’ī scholars discussed the weight of the ring, but some later scholars such as al-Adhra’ī stated that it is forbidden for it to exceed one mithqal (a unit of mass equal to 4.25 grams) whilst other scholars said it is permissible such as al-Hafidh al-‘Iraqī who said that it is [not forbidden but rather] disliked for the ring to weigh one mithqal. However, the appropriate, permissible weight depends on the norms of the people in their culture as the mithqal was the norm of the people at that time.