What amount of mehr can a bride demand.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Is it
also true that a woman may ask whatever amount she wishes for? I heard once
that a woman has the right to demand even a casket of jewels. It is her right.
From what you say here it is the man who proposes and the woman accepts or
rejects.
In
some families I have also seen that the father of the bride sets down an amount
and the bride gives her consent or does not. Please clarify. JazzaakAllah!
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
What amount of mehr
can a bride demand
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
The amount of ‘Mehr’ in Islam is either offered by the
groom and accepted by the bride (with consent and agreement of her
guardians/parents), or an amount demanded by the bride (with consent and
agreement of her guardians/parents) and accepted by the groom. Although in Islamic Law the final decision of
how much ‘mehr’ is acceptable is the decision and sole right of the bride
alone, this decision is best taken by the bride with the consent of her father
or guardian. The bride alone has the
sole rights to the ‘mehr’ amount, and she may spend that amount on whoever and
whatever she wills and pleases.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah
Nisaa verse 4:
4 And give the women (on marriage) their dower (mehr) as a free gift;
but if they of their own good pleasure remit any part of it to you take it and
enjoy it with right good cheer.
There is absolutely no limit to the ‘amount’ of ‘Mehr’ a
bride can demand, or a husband may wish to offer at the time of their
marriage…….it can be as much as a whole treasure, or it can be as little as the
declaration of a ‘shahaadah’, or as humble as a paltry pair of sandals!
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah
Nisaa verse 20:
20 But if ye decide to take
one wife in place of another, even if
ye had given the latter a whole treasure for dower (mehr), take not the
least bit of it back: would ye take it by slander and a manifest wrong?
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 3206 Narrated by Amir ibn Rabi'ah
A
woman of the Banu Fazarah was married for a dower (mehr) of two sandals. When Allah's
Messenger (saws) asked whether she was satisfied with two sandals regarding her
person and her property and she replied that she was, he (saws) gave his
approval.
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 3209 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik
AbuTalhah married Umm Sulaym, the Mehr between them being acceptance
of Islam. Umm Sulaym had become a Muslim before AbuTalhah, and when he
asked her in marriage she said, "I have become a Muslim, so if you become
one I shall marry you." He then accepted Islam and that was the Mehr
arranged between them.
The bride at the time of marriage is well within her
rights to demand as much ‘Mehr’ as she wills and pleases…….and the groom is
well within his rights to accept the ‘Mehr’ demand of his bride-to-be and marry
her, or reject the demand and thus leave her alone.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan