Short answer
Yes. Buying physical gold or silver as an investment is halal. The gold must be handed over, or allocated in your name, at the time of the deal, and paying at the same time is the safest course. Layaway, where the gold stays with the seller, and gold contracts you never own are not allowed. Zakat is due on investment gold.
Holding gold or silver as a store of value, or to sell later at a profit, is permissible, and zakat is due on it every year. When gold is bought with money, the gold must be delivered in the same sitting. Many South Asian Hanafi muftis allow the price to be paid later, since paper money is not gold or silver; AAOIFI requires both sides on the spot, which is the safer course.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Gold and silver are among the six items the Prophet ﷺ named in the rules of riba. When gold is bought with money, the gold at least must change hands at the time of the deal, and many scholars require the price to be paid then too, by analogy with the hadith "do not sell what is absent for what is present". So the safest gold purchase is settled in full on the spot.
In practice:
- Bars and coins from a dealer: halal, when you pay and receive the gold, or receive full title to specific, allocated gold held for you, at once.
- Online gold platforms: acceptable when your gold is allocated in your name and you can take delivery. Unallocated "gold accounts" that only give you a claim are not.
- Layaway: not allowed, since the gold stays with the seller until you finish paying. Buying on installments when the gold is handed to you at once is allowed by many Hanafi muftis but not by AAOIFI, so paying in full is the safer course.
- Gold ETFs: those backed by physical, allocated gold and certified to a Shariah standard such as AAOIFI's gold standard are accepted by many scholars. Synthetic or futures-based gold funds are not.
- Gold mining shares are ordinary shares; see Are stocks halal?
There is no special sunnah in investing in gold; it is simply permissible. Trading gold on a forex or CFD platform is a different matter: see Is trading gold (XAUUSD) halal? Remember that gold held as an investment is zakatable. The Quran warns those who hoard gold and silver without spending in Allah's way (9:34). Use the zakat on gold calculator and check today's nisab.
The evidence
Quran, Surah At-Tawba 9:34
۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْأَحْبَارِ وَٱلرُّهْبَانِ لَيَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَٰلَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ ٱلذَّهَبَ وَٱلْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ ﴿٣٤﴾
O you who have believed, indeed many of the scholars and the monks devour the wealth of people unjustly and avert [them] from the way of Allah. And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah - give them tidings of a painful punishment.
Gold kept as wealth carries the duty of zakat.
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:275
ٱلَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟ لَا يَقُومُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَقُومُ ٱلَّذِى يَتَخَبَّطُهُ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ مِنَ ٱلْمَسِّ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْبَيْعُ مِثْلُ ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟ ۗ وَأَحَلَّ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟ ۚ فَمَن جَآءَهُۥ مَوْعِظَةٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦ فَٱنتَهَىٰ فَلَهُۥ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمْرُهُۥٓ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَمَنْ عَادَ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلنَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَٰلِدُونَ ﴿٢٧٥﴾
Those who consume interest cannot stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity. That is because they say, "Trade is [just] like interest." But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest. So whoever has received an admonition from his Lord and desists may have what is past, and his affair rests with Allah. But whoever returns to [dealing in interest or usury] - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein.
Buying and selling gold is trade, within the rules of riba.
Sahih Muslim 1587
Sahih... الذهب بالذهب والفضة بالفضة والبر بالبر ...
"Gold for gold, silver for silver, wheat for wheat."
Gold is a ribawi item with special exchange rules.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2177
Sahih... ولا تبيعوا منها غائبا بناجز ...
"And do not sell any of it that is absent for what is present."
Gold exchanges must be settled on the spot.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Sarf. Possession of both counter-values in the session is a condition in exchanges of gold and silver.
- AAOIFI Shariah Standards, Standard No. 57, Gold and Its Trading Controls. Sets the conditions for buying gold, gold accounts and gold-backed products.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.