Question:
What is the fatwa on wearing anklets?
Answer: حامدا ومصلياومسلما

Males, whether adult or minor, are not allowed to wear any type of anklet as they are adornment specific for women.[i]

As for females, then it is forbidden for them, young or old, to wear an anklet with bells. This is expressly mentioned in the following two Ahaadith.

1. Ibn Zubayr (رضي الله عنهما) said that a freed slave woman of theirs took Zubayr’s daughter to Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) wearing bells on her legs. Umar cut them off and said that he had heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: “There is a devil along with each bell.”[ii]
2. Bunanah, the freed slave woman of ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Hayyan al-Ansari (رضي الله عنه) said that when she was with ‘Aishah (رضي الله عنها) a girl was brought in to her, and she was wearing anklets that made noise. She ordered that they were not to bring her in where she was unless they cut off her anklets. She said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: “The angels do not enter a house in which there is a bell.”[iii]

Hazrat Maulana Khalil Ahmed Saharunpuri (رحمه الله) explains: “It is not permissible for a woman to wear any type of jewelry which produces a sound, nor is it permissible to adorn little girls with them.” [iv]

If the anklet does not have any bells, then it will be permissible for her to wear it, whether in the house or outside, unless she wears so many that they make a sound when she walks. In this case, it would be prohibited on her to walk outside of her house if they produce a sound which non-Mahram men (those who are Islamically lawful for her to marry) can hear. [v]

Allah Ta’ala states: “And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment.” [vi]

Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Shaf’ee Usmani (رحمه الله) states in the commentary on this verse: “It is not permissible (for a woman) to reveal her hidden beauty regardless of the method used. Based on this verse all the following will be prohibited when a non-mahram man hears it:

1. To place anything on the ornament which will produce a sound.
2. To cause ones’ jewelry to make a sound by clashing with another.
3. To stamp her feet in such a manner by which the sound of the ornament is heard.”[vii]

 
And Allah Ta’ala knows best.
Muhammad ibn Suleman Chothia
Reviewed and Endorsed by Mufti Muhammad Mahdi

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[i] قال فى الدر ويكره للولى الباس الخلخال … للصبى قال الشامى اى الذكر لانه من زينۃ النساء . (شامى ج 5 ص 298)
[ii] Abu Dawud #4230 with A’unul Ma’bood
[iii] Abu Dawud #4231

[iv]Badhlul Majhood Vol.13 Pg.258. Also see Fatawa MahmudiyyahVol.28 Pg.30

[v] Imdadul Fatawa by Hazrat Thanvi Vol.4 Pg.137 Fatawa Haqqaniyah Vol.2 Pg.411, Zaib o Zeenat ke Shar’ee Ahkaam by Maulana Muhammad Arif Jamil Qasmi Pg.116, , E’laus Sunan Vol.17 Pg.289,

[vi] {Nur:31}
[vii] Urdu Ma’ariful Quran Vol.6 Pg.406