The mahr (dower)
Mahr is the property a husband owes his wife because of the marriage contract, with a set minimum and no upper limit.
Mahr is money or property that a husband must give his wife because they are married. It belongs to her, not to her family.
What you should know about mahr
- A husband does not have to say an exact amount at the wedding for the marriage to count, but he still owes her a fair amount either way.
- There is a smallest amount the mahr can be: it cannot be less than the value of about ten silver dirhams.
- There is no biggest amount: a husband can promise as much as he likes, though he should be careful not to promise more than he can actually give.
- The mahr can be paid straight away, or agreed to be paid later.
Mahr is the wealth (cash, goods, or anything of recognised value) that a husband owes his wife because the marriage contract has given him the exclusive right to her married life. It functions as a debt on the husband, fixed at the time of marriage; though its payment is often left until death or divorce by custom, it is better settled as promptly as possible.
Mentioning a mahr at the time of the contract is not necessary for the marriage's validity, only for how the mahr itself is decided. Whether or not one is named, the marriage is valid regardless, and if none was named, the customary mahr (mahr mithl) applies by default, even a condition that no mahr will be paid at all is void, since mahr is a right the Sharia fixes and no private condition can remove it.
| Kind | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Mahr Musamma | The dowry specifically named at the time of the marriage |
| Mahr Mithl | The customary dowry: matched to what women of similar age, looks, wealth, era, intellect, religiosity, temperament, character and marital history in the wife's own family have received, or a comparable woman outside the family if her own family's dowries are unknown or do not share these traits (the mother's own dowry does not count towards this, unless she is herself from the father's family) |
| Mahr Mu'ajal | The dowry paid promptly, or on demand |
| Mahr Mu'ajjal | The dowry deferred to a later date; where no date is set, it customarily falls due at death or divorce |
The mahr must be at least ten dirhams (about 21.264 grams of silver) or property of equal value; naming a lower amount still obliges the husband to pay ten dirhams.
| Wife or daughter | Dowry |
|---|---|
| Khadijah al-Kubra (may Allah be pleased with her) | 12.5 uqiyah of gold (about 63 grams) |
| Sawda, Aisha, Hafsa, Zaynab bint Jahsh, Juwayriya, and Maymunah (may Allah be pleased with them) | 400 dirhams of silver each (about 850 grams) |
| Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) | 100 dirhams of silver (about 213 grams); some reports mention goods of equal value to 10 dirhams |
| Umm Habiba (may Allah be pleased with her) | 400 dinars of gold |
| Safiya (may Allah be pleased with her) | No specific dowry recorded in the source |
| Fatimah az-Zahra, daughter of the Prophet ﷺ (may Allah be pleased with her) | 400 mithqal of silver |
Of the Prophet's ﷺ eleven wives, two had already passed away by the time of his death; the remaining nine survived him.
Mahr is the wealth (naqd (cash), ʿayn (goods), or any māl-recognised item) that a husband is obligated to give his wife in exchange for the ʿaqd's vesting in him exclusive marital enjoyment of her; it is, in substance, the badal (substitute-value) of that benefit. It functions as a dayn (debt) upon the husband, fixed at the ʿaqd, though customarily deferred to death or divorce; expedited payment is preferable, both to relieve the debt and for accountability in the ākhirah.
Mahr is a necessary component of nikah, though explicitly naming it in the ʿaqd is not itself a condition of the nikah's validity (ṣiḥḥah), only of what follows from it (dawām). Whether or not it is named, the nikah is valid in every case; where unnamed, mahr al-mithl applies. Even a stipulated condition that no mahr be paid, or that the nikah proceed without one, is void, since mahr is a Sharʿī right (ḥaqq) that a private condition cannot annul.
| Category | Definition |
|---|---|
| Mahr Musammā | The mahr specifically fixed (tasmiyah) at the ʿaqd. |
| Mahr al-Mithl | The mahr corresponding to women of the wife's own family (sisters, paternal and maternal aunts, cousins) who resemble her in age, beauty, wealth, locale, era, ʿaql, dīn, temperament, character, marital history (bikr or thayyibah) and whether or not she has children, or, where such women in her family are unknown or do not share these traits, a comparable woman outside the family sharing them and her lineage. The mother's own mahr does not count towards mahr al-mithl unless she herself belongs to the father's family (e.g. as his paternal cousin). |
| Mahr Muʿajal | The mahr due promptly, payable on demand. |
| Mahr Muʾajjal | The mahr deferred to a stated future date; where none is stated, it falls due by custom at death or divorce. |
Two conditions govern the mahr: it must be at least ten dirhams (approximately 21.264 grams of silver) or property of equivalent value, and it must be of the class of māl (recognised property). Where a lesser amount is named, ten dirhams remains obligatory regardless.
| Wife or daughter | Recorded mahr |
|---|---|
| Khadījah al-Kubrā (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā) | 12.5 ʿuqiyah of gold (an ʿuqiyah being equal in weight to a dirham), about 63.021 grams |
| Sawdah, ʿĀʾishah, Ḥafṣah, Zaynab bint Jaḥsh, Juwayriyyah, and Maymūnah (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhunna) | 400 dirhams of silver each (about 850.57 grams; a dirham weighing approximately 7.5 grams) |
| Umm Salamah (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā) | 100 dirhams of silver (about 212.64 grams); other reports record goods equal in value to 10 dirhams |
| Umm Ḥabībah (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā) | 400 dinars of gold (about 1215.10 grams; a dinar equal to 100 barley-grains, i.e. 25 rattī) |
| Ṣafiyyah (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā) | No specific mahr recorded in the source |
| Fāṭimah az-Zahrāʾ, the Prophet's ﷺ daughter (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā) | 400 mithqāl of silver (a mithqāl equal to 100 barley-grains or 25 rattī, about 1215.10 grams) |
Of the Prophet's ﷺ eleven wives, two had predeceased him; the remaining nine survived him, each reflecting a distinct aspect of his life, as the source notes.
Terms on this page
Related
- The ruling on zakat, and when it becomes obligatory Who zakat is obligatory on, what denying it means, and the eight conditions that must all be met before zakat is due.
- Spouses' rights, and marriages that do not hold What a marriage contract owes each spouse, and the situations elsewhere in this section where a nikah is invalid or left pending.
- Khul': the wife's release in exchange for compensation How khul' works when a husband will not divorce and the marriage cannot continue, who may ask for it, and what it costs the wife.
- Who you cannot marry: the other causes Beyond family and fosterage, marriage is also barred by combining certain women, by ownership, by religion, and by an existing marriage or waiting period.