Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
9. Dowry
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unfurnished except for a flooring of sand, a pillow
of date palm bark, a pot of water and a drinking
vessel. Even the sheet which Fatimah was given had
to be divided in two so that one half could be
spread for sleeping on and the other half could be
worn.
163
If, nowadays, a girl’s dowry had to be defined
purely in terms of household necessities and limited
to the same few items which the Prophet gave to
Fatimah, it seems unlikely that anyone would
consider it becoming to give a dowry at all.
Then the question arises as to why the Prophet felt
obliged to give anything to Fatimah at all, when it
had never been the custom to give presents to the
bride. This feeling of obligation can be traced to the
quality of the relationship which had grown up
between ‘Ali and himself. When ‘Ali was just a boy,
the Prophet requested his father, Abu Talib, to
confide him to his care. From his very childhood,
then, ‘Ali had been under the guardianship of the
Prophet. Because of this long, close association, they
had become more like father and son, rather than
just cousins. Considering that the Prophet had
