Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Translated by Wajihah Gregor
Is it permissible to pierce the belly button to put a ring in it? If it is not permissible, then is it permissible to place a ring that does not require one to pierce the belly button?
It is not permissible to pierce the belly button to place a ring in it, because it is causing pain to the self with out any need. [Causing pain is overlooked with respect to piercing the ear because it is considered adornment. This is not the case here because wearing a ring in the belly button is not considered adornmnent.] The fact that a certain people conventionally consider it to be adornment is of no consequence because this is considered a rare case.
This is inferred from what Sheikh Ibn Hajar mentions in the Tuhfa about the impermissibility of piercing the nose and placing silver or gold in it. He said: “Because there is no adornment that would excuse [causing pain to the self] except according to a small fraction [of people], and this is of no consequence with respect to the customs of the masses. This is different from the piercing of the ears because that is adornment for women in every locality”
As for placing a ring on the belly button without piercing it, it is permissible.