Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Enter Question
View By Subject
Fatwa Of The Week
Selected Fatwa
Fatwa CenterUsing silver for medicinal purposes
Question
Asalaam o alikum, I know silver utensils are not allowed, what about using silver for medicinal purpose, I.e. to consume for it's antibacterial properties? Wasalaam
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
The Islamic religious law has forbidden eating or drinking in utensils made of silver as underlined in Fatwa 85181. Using gold or silver for medicinal purposes is not forbidden as long as there is no other alternative. The evidence supporting this scholarly opinion is the report narrated by ‘Arfajah ibn As‘ad 
that his nose had been cut off at the battle of Al-Kulaab during the pre-Islamic era, so he wore a nose made of silver, but it started to rot, so "the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, told him to wear a nose made of gold." [Ahmad, Abu Daawood and At-Tirmithi - Al-Albaani graded it Saheeh (sound)]
On the other hand, a group of jurists held that the prohibition of gold and silver utensils is confined to eating and drinking from them, and not their usage for other purposes. Based on that opinion, there is no problem in using the vessels made of gold or silver for medicinal purposes to preserve medicines or the like.
Ash-Shawkaani 
wrote about using the vessels made of gold or silver for other than eating and drinking: "The basic principle in this regard is underlined in the verse that reads (what means): {It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth…} [Quran 2:29] and the verse {Say, "Who has forbidden the adornment of Allaah which He has produced for His servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?"} [Quran 7:32] The basic principle is that the general indication of the verses of the Quran is not particularized without legitimate evidence. Eating and drinking from gold or silver vessels and wearing gold jewelry for men were the only evidenced prohibited uses. Hence, claiming that all forms of silver and gold uses are prohibited in general is not supported by evidence." [As-Sayl Al-Jarraar]
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: "The most valid opinion is that using vessels made of gold and silver for other than eating and drinking is not prohibited because the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forbade a particular use of vessels made of gold and silver; only eating and drinking from them. If it is prohibited to use them in general, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the most articulate of all people, would not have referred to certain forbidden usage of gold and silver vessels without underlining other forbidden uses. In fact, stating that the prohibited usage of vessels made of gold and silver is only for eating and drinking from them indicates that other usages are deemed lawful because people can avail themselves of gold and silver vessels. If all usages of vessels made of gold and silver were strictly prohibited in general, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would have commanded that they be broken. It has been reported that he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would not leave anything bearing images (of living beings) in the house without breaking it or tearing it apart. Moreover, Umm Salamah 
reported that she had a vessel of silver in which she kept a few hairs of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam; whenever anyone would suffer from the evil eye or some other ailment, he would draw blessing from the Prophet's hair in that silver vessel, as cited in Al-Bukhari's Saheeh. Indeed, this counts as another permissible usage of silver vessels outside of eating and drinking from them." [Ash-Sharh Al-Mumti‘]
Allaah Knows best.
Search Fatwa
Fatwa Subject
