Answered by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
It is impermissible for men to wear earrings or have their ears pierced in order
to wear earrings. There are certain reasons for this prohibition:
Firstly, it is agreed upon by the scholars, that it is unlawful for men to adorn
themselves with any type of jewellery besides a silver ring. (See: Ibn Qudama,
al-Mughni, 2.324 & al-Mawsu’a al-Fiqhiyya).
The great Hanafi Jurist, Imam al-Haskafi (may Allah have mercy on him) states
in his famous work, Durr al-Mukhtar:
“It is not permissible for a man to adorn himself with any type of gold and
silver whatsoever (mutlaqan) besides a silver ring…” (Radd al-Muhtar ala al-Durr
al-Mukhtar, 6/358-359, fasl fi al-libas).
Secondly, earrings are (still) generally considered a type of adornment for
women and even in the West they were originally worn by those men who wanted
to imitate women. Imitating women intentionally is considered unlawful in Islam.
Sayyiduna Abd Allah ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) relates, that the
Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace): “Cursed those men who
imitate women and those women who imitate men” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 7/205).
Thirdly, wearing earrings is a custom that developed and is generally prevalent
among non-Muslim men, and imitating non-Muslims is also impermissible.
Sayyiduna Abd Allah ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger
of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Whoever imitates a people
is one of them.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, no. 4031 & Musnad Ahmad, 2/50)
Given the above reasons, it would not be permissible for men to wear and adorn
themselves with earrings.
And Allah knows best
Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari,
Darul Iftaa, Leicester, UK,
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