Is wearing a silver ring or a single pearl/jewel sufficient to fulfill an oath to adorn a wife with jewelry?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Expiations
Primary text
Wearing a silver ring, a single necklace of pearls, or a single jewel fulfills an oath sworn to adorn a wife with jewelry. This is the position held by Al-Shafi'i. The evidence rests on the Quranic declarations regarding extraction from the sea for adornment, specifically Quran 16:14, which states, "and you take out from it ornaments that you wear," and Quran 22:23, stating, "Therein they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls." Furthermore, a tradition reports that Allah the Exalted told the Eastern sea, "I will place in you adornments, game, and delights." Additionally, silver constitutes jewelry when it is a bracelet or anklet, thus it is jewelry when it is a ring, similar to gold, and pearls and jewels are jewelry when accompanying others, so they are jewelry when singular, like gold.
Supporting text
Abu Hanifa holds that the oath is not fulfilled because the item worn is not jewelry alone (implying it must be something considered 'jewelry' in conjunction with other items, perhaps or that silver is inherently excluded unless part of a set, although the text states the disagreement based on whether it is jewelry alone).