He wore a gold ring, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ looked at it as if he disliked it, so he threw it away. Then he wore an iron ring, and the Prophet ﷺ said, "This is even worse." So he threw it away. Then he wore a silver ring, and the Prophet ﷺ remained silent about it.
أنه لبس خاتما من ذهب، فنظر إليه رسول الله ﷺ كأنه كرهه، فطرحه، ثم لبس خاتما من حديد. فقال: هذا أخبث وأخبث، فطرحه، ثم لبس خاتما من ورق، فسكت عنه.
Ahmad (6977) narrated it from Siraj, who said, Abdullah bin Muammal narrated to us, from Ibn Abu Mulayka, from Abdullah bin Amr bin As, who mentioned it. Abdullah bin Muammal is disputed. Most scholars of knowledge judged him daif, while Ibn Main said, "His hadith is acceptable," and Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy narrators. The first chain strengthens this one. Perhaps Abdullah bin Muammal erred in saying "that he wore a ring of gold," while the correct account is that it was another man who wore it, as in the first hadith.On this subject there is also what was narrated from Burayda, that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ wearing a ring of brass, and he said to him, "What is this, that I find the smell of idols coming from you?" So he threw it away. Then he came wearing a ring of iron, and the Prophet said, "What is this, that I see on you an ornament of the people of Hellfire?" So he threw it away. He said, "Messenger of Allah, what then should I make it from?" The Prophet said, "Make it from silver, but do not let it reach a full mithqal in weight." In another version, he then came wearing a ring of gold, and the Prophet said, "Cast off from yourself the ornament of the people of Paradise."This was narrated by Abu Dawud (4223), Tirmidhi (1785), and Nasai (5195), and Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (5488), all of them through the route of Zayd bin Hubab, from Abdullah bin Muslim Sulami Marwazi, Abu Taybah, from Abdullah bin Burayda, from his father, who mentioned it.Tirmidhi said, "This is a gharib hadith," meaning daif. I say, this is because it contains Abu Taybah, who is Abdullah bin Muslim. Abu Hatim said, "He cannot be relied upon as proof, though his hadith is recorded." Nasai said in al-Kubra (9442), "This is a munkar hadith." Hafiz also judged it daif in Fath al-Bari (10/256). I say, this is because some of its wordings also contain elements of nakarah that have no basis.His saying "shabah" means yellow copper, its plural being ashbah.Points of jurisprudence in the hadith. The prohibition here is to be understood as a matter of avoidance for propriety's sake, not outright forbiddance, as Imam Ahmad said when he was asked, "Is wearing an iron ring disliked?" He said, "Yes, by Allah." This is because interpreting it as outright forbiddance would conflict with the sahih hadith, namely the hadith of the woman who offered herself in marriage. Though some scholars of knowledge said that permission to request something does not necessarily entail permission to wear it, the greatest benefit of a ring is precisely in wearing it. Furthermore, an iron ring is something of little worth, its value cannot be put to use, nor can it be used for anything else, such as making a knife or the like. But if it is plated or wrapped with silver, there is no harm in it.