Mahr: the dower that a husband gives his wife

The mahr is what the husband gives his wife on marriage, called sadaq, nihla and faridha; it is due in every marriage, and the jurists differ on whether it is part of the contract. ¹

Naming it is not a condition of validity by consensus, and divorce before consummation is valid without it. Ibn Mas'ud's ruling and the report from Ma'qil in the case of Buru' bint Washiq are cited for the proper dower. Where a husband stipulates no dower, the Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold the marriage valid; the Malikis count the dower a pillar and hold it invalid. ^{2 3}

Any property valued in sale or hire may serve as dower. There are two kinds: the named dower, fixed by the contract, and the proper dower (mahr al-mithl), the usual amount for women like the wife, judged by her paternal and maternal kin and her qualities. ^{3 4 5}

The Malikis in the better-known view, the Shafi'is and the Hanbalis allow a benefit to be the dower, such as service for a set period, or teaching the Qur'an, on which views differ. The Hanafis refuse a free man's service as dower but allow the use of things, such as lodging in a house. ^{5 6 7}

There is no limit to the most, by consensus, citing the verse of the surah of Women on the great sum, and the report of 'Umar on the subject. The Shafi'is and Hanbalis set no least; the Hanafis set ten dirhams; the Malikis a quarter dinar or three dirhams. ^{8 9 10}

The Hanafis and Shafi'is allow the whole dower or part of it to be prompt or deferred, with custom deciding the prompt part when nothing is said. The Malikis require a known term. The Hanbalis allow part to fall due at death or separation. ^{11 12 13}

A wife may withhold herself until she receives a prompt dower, according to the Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis; a deferred dower gives no such right according to most jurists. ^{14 15}

The dower is owned by the wife on the contract but may fall away until it is made certain. It is made certain by intercourse, by the death of either spouse before consummation, by killing, and by valid seclusion according to the Hanafis and Hanbalis; kissing and touching do not make it certain according to the Malikis and Shafi'is. ^{15 16 17}

Jurists agree that divorce before consummation, after a named dower, requires half of the named sum, on the verse of the surah of the Cow. The Hanafis give details on how the halving works where the dower has grown, shrunk, or been lost. ^{18 19 20 21 22 23}

The proper dower is owed by most jurists when the marriage is by delegation, when the named dower is invalid, when intercourse is by mistake, and by the Shafi'is and Hanbalis when a woman is forced to fornicate. Her qualities such as age, beauty, wealth and place are weighed. ^{24 25 26 27}

The whole dower falls away on a separation before consummation that is an annulment and not a divorce, such as option, defect or mutual cursing. It falls away by the wife's release or gift; a gift made before the divorce is treated differently. ^{27 28 29 30}

If a husband names a smaller dower on condition of a lawful benefit to the wife, the condition unmet requires the proper dower; if the condition harms her or is unlawful, the named dower is owed. ^{30 31 32}

The Hanafis hold that a father may receive the dower of a virgin daughter; the Malikis name the compelling guardian. The Hanbalis hold that the wife owns it, and it passes on her death. ^{33 34}

If the dower perishes in the wife's hands after she received it she has no claim against the husband; if it perishes in his hands before she receives it, he is liable. Defects and shortfalls are treated in detail. ^{34 35 36}

Where the spouses differ on whether a dower was named, on its amount, or on whether part was paid, the Hanafis apply proof and oath and fall back on the proper dower where both swear; the Malikis consider what custom and the usual dower suggest; the Hanbalis largely accept the claim of the wife. ^{36 37 38 39 40}

If the spouses agree a dower in private and then announce a higher one, the Hanafis count the public one unless they agree it was for show; the Malikis take the private one; the Hanbalis take the larger. ^{41 42 43}

The dower belongs to the wife to use as she wishes; furnishing the house is the husband's duty according to the Hanafis, while the Malikis hold that she may buy her trousseau from the dower. ^{44 45}

A man who marries in his last illness may do so at the proper dower, and if he owes debts she shares among the creditors. An excess over the proper dower is a gift to an heir that needs the heirs' consent, according to the Hanafis and Hanbalis; the Shafi'is and Malikis separate the case of the wife's death from the husband's. ^{45 46 47}

He holds that the deferred dower is a debt on the husband that must be paid during his life, and that the common view that it falls due only at divorce or death is mistaken. ^{48 49} He criticises fathers who ask for a large deferred dower to push the husband into divorce. ⁵⁰ The juristic rules in the sections above stand; this section records the speaker's view.