our Islam » Dowry: Women's economic right

Dowry: Women’s economic dues

Mufti Safiullah ..

Marriage is the means to build a peaceful family life. Marriage is the means to create a happy family, fulfill human biological needs and gain emotional peace.
Dowry is one of the conditions of marriage.

Dowry is the property a woman is entitled to over her husband by virtue of her marriage. Dowry is an important duty of Islam. But there is extreme ignorance and laxity in our society in this regard.

Dowry is one of the rights payable and recoverable of women. One of the conditions that must be fulfilled for marriage to be valid in Islamic law is the collection of dowry.

It is the husband’s duty to collect it. Fixing dowry in marriage is one of the characteristics of Islam. Dowry is not a contract for the price of goods, but dowry is the honor and dignity of women. So to think that giving dowry means buying a woman is nothing but folly. Dowry is not just a donation, but dowry is an economic right of women.

A mandatory provision for men with no scope for evasion and a self-sufficient transaction. Dowry is a special loan. It is very important to pay. Just as other obligatory debts are paid willingly, the wife’s dowry debt is also to be paid willingly, with a generous mind, without thinking of penalty.
Allah says: And you give your wives their dowry happily. If they part with it willingly, enjoy it comfortably. (An Nisa, verse 4)

Mufti Shafi Rahimahullah said in the explanation of this verse: Applying pressure or forcing forgiveness is not forgiveness under any circumstances. However, if the wife spontaneously waives the portion of the dowry or gives it back to the husband with complete understanding, then it will be permissible to enjoy.
Dowry is the right of women.

No one can interfere with it except with his spontaneous consent. The husband cannot deprive the wife of dowry, nor can it be taken back after payment. If the husband waives the full dowry or part of it under pressure or trickery, then it will not be waived in the judgment of Allah.

The Messenger of Allah, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, أَلَا لَا تَظْلِمُوا, إِنَّهُ لَا يَحِلُّ مَالُ امْرِئٍ إِلَّا بِطِيبِ نَفْسٍ مِنْهُ, أَلَا وَإِنَّ كُلَّ beware! do not oppress Remember, it is not lawful for anyone to take another’s wealth without his sincere consent. (Musnad Ahmad Hadith No-20259)

Amount of dowry: There is no maximum amount of dowry prescribed in Shariah. A man can fix dowry as much as he wants. It is better to determine the amount of dowry based on the discussion of both parties. It is important to decide keeping in mind the ability of the groom.

And Mahre Fatemi is the dowry that was fixed at the time of Hazrat Fatimah’s marriage. The amount of which was five hundred dirhams. (Tabakate Kubra 8/22)
Which is 131.25 tolas or 1.5309 kilograms of silver in current weight ratio. The weight of one dirham is 3.0618 grams, at current price of Rs 1200 per tola, the value of Mahre Fatemi is Rs 1,57,500/-.

Mahr is not an amount prescribed by Fatemi Shariat. Doing more than less than this is unacceptable in Shari’ah. If the husband can afford to pay more dowry than the Mahre Fatemi, the wife is cheated by fixing the Mahre Fatemi.

And if the husband does not have the ability to pay the dowry, then forcing the guardians to fix the dowry is oppression on the husband. However, if both parties decide on the basis of mutual consent and think that the amount prescribed by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, is blessed, then it is better to accept it. Then it is admirable.

There are many bad practices of dowry in our society which have a long history. Many times mahr is only nominally mentioned in Kabinnama, there is no intention to collect it.

রাসুলুল্লাহ সাল্লাল্লাহু আলাইহি ওয়াসাল্লাম বলেছেন مَا مِنْ رَجُلٍ يَنْكِحُ امْرَأَةً بِصَدَاقٍ، وَلَيْسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ أَنْ يُؤَدِّيَهُ إِلَيْهَا إِلَّا كَانَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ زَانِيًا،) যে বিবাহ করল এবং দেনমোহর শুধু ধার্য্য করল কিন্তু তার অন্তরে দেনমোহর আদায় করার নিয়ত নেই, তাহলে আল্লাহর দরবারে তাকে যিনাকারী হিসাবে গণ্য করা will be (Musannaf Abdur Razzaq 6/185)

Sometimes, due to the pressure of the bride’s party, the dowry is fixed so much that it is beyond the affordability of the groom. Their intention is that the husband never dares to go for divorce. And mouth to mouth dowry must pay the son today? If the boys and girls are right, no one will take account of it.

Minimum amount of dowry: The minimum amount of dowry in the Hanafi Madhhab is ten dirhams, which is two tolas and seven and a half mashas or 30.618 grams of silver in current weight ratio.

At present, if the price of silver is Tk 1,200/-, the price of 10 dirhams is Tk 3,150/-. It is not for the purpose of fixing a minimum amount of dowry, that fixing a minimum amount of dowry is permissible in the Shari’ah. Rather, its purpose is that less than this is not permissible even if the wife agrees.

The minimum amount is fixed so that even the poorest of the society can get married. But there is a tendency among some wealthy people of our society to cheat women as much as possible by paying less dowry. It is not acceptable in Sharia. One of my fellow teacher’s sister’s marriage is finalized with a wealthy man, as far as I know the monthly income of the man is above lakhs of rupees. The surprising thing is that the capable person is not paying even one taka more than 30,000 rupees. Due to such mentality, the marriage eventually breaks up.

There are a lot of people with such mentality in the society. Dowry is a symbol of honor and dignity for women. Every husband should show due respect to his wife according to her financial ability.

Exaggeration with dowry is not right, divorce is also not right. All of us should fix this amount of dowry based on the agreement of both parties so that the wife does not cheat and the husband does not have difficulty in collecting it.

May Allah Ta’ala grant us the tawfiq to realize the importance of debt. Amen!

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