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Mahr: marriage questions answered by scholars

This topic has 3 questions. Each is a short summary of a qualified scholar’s answer, with a link to the full fatwa.

About this topic

Mahr (also written mehr, and called haq mehr in Urdu) is the gift a husband gives his wife as part of the nikah. The Qur’an also calls it sadaq and faridah, and it belongs to the wife herself, not to her family. It can be money, gold, property or something else of value. Families often agree that part is paid at the nikah (prompt) and part later (deferred), and both are written in the nikahnama. Mahr is not the same as jahez, the household goods a bride’s family may give, which is a cultural custom rather than part of the nikah.

Questions about mahr usually concern its amount and form, whether something other than money can be given, when it has to be paid, and who may reduce or forgive it. Scholars and schools of thought differ on some details, such as the minimum amount, so read each answer below together with the full fatwa, and ask a scholar you trust about your own case.

Questions and answers

  • Can a promise to stay punctual in salah for life stand in place of the mahr?

    The asker wanted to know whether a husband's pledge never to miss a prayer for the rest of his life can replace the mahr. Mufti Abu-Muhammad Ali Asghar Attari Madani answered that mahr must be property with monetary value, and being punctual in prayer is not property, so it cannot serve as mahr. If a cash or silver amount of at least ten dirhams was also named, that amount is the mahr; if none was named or it was lower, the wife is owed the mahr of comparable women on her father's side. The respected mufti added that praying on time is obligatory in its own right and that deliberately missing a prayer is a sin.

    Answered by Mufti Abu-Muhammad Ali Asghar Attari Madani, Dar-ul-Ifta Ahl-e-Sunnat (Dawat-e-Islami)Fatwa #Nor-13055Summarised on Nikkup

    Read the full fatwa on FatwaQA.comOpen this question on its own page

  • Can a copy of the Qur'an be given as part of the mahr together with cash?

    A man asked whether he may give a copy of the Qur'an as part of the mahr alongside a cash payment. Mufti Ebrahim Desai replied that mahr may be paid in cash or in kind, so a Qur'an is acceptable. The reasoning is that mahr must be something of recognised monetary value, with a minimum of ten dirhams' worth of silver (about 30.6 grams) and no maximum. The Qur'an therefore counts as long as its value reaches that minimum, and the answer cites classical Hanafi books for the condition that mahr be property. It does not discuss how to value a particular copy.

    Answered by Mufti Ebrahim Desai, Darul Iftaa MahmudiyyahFatwa #45871Summarised on Nikkup

    Read the full fatwa on askimam.orgOpen this question on its own page

  • Can a father, or the bride herself, waive the mahr after the nikah?

    The questioner asked whether a father can forgive his adult daughter's mahr, and whether a woman near death can waive it when her heirs ask. Mufti Abu Muhammad Ali Asghar Attari answered that a father cannot waive an adult daughter's mahr, which is waived only if she freely agrees and the husband does not object. The reply also says that a waiver made while terminally ill is not valid by itself and needs the other heirs' agreement.

    Answered by Mufti Abu Muhammad Ali Asghar Attari, Dar-ul-Ifta Ahl-e-Sunnat (Dawat-e-Islami)Summarised on Nikkup

    Read the full fatwa on FatwaQA.comOpen this question on its own page

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