Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
9. Dowry
~ 204 ~
There are two ways of presenting
mahr
to the bride.
One is to hand it over at the time of the marriage, in
which case it is known as
mahr mu‘ajjal.,
or
promptly given dower. (The word
mu‘ajjal
is
derived from
‘ajilah,
meaning “without delay.”)
During the time of the Prophet and his
Companions,
mahr mu‘ajjal
was the accepted
practice and the amount fixed was generally quite
minimal. The giving of
mahr
by ‘Ali to Fatimah, the
Prophet’s daughter, is an illustration of how this
custom was respected. (It has been recorded in
detail in the books of Hadith.) After the marriage
had been arranged, the Prophet asked ‘Ali if he had
anything he could give as dower in order to make
Fatimah his lawfully wedded wife. ‘Ali replied, “By
God, I have nothing, O Messenger of God.” The
Prophet then asked, “Where is the coat of armor I
once gave you?” ‘Ali replied that it was still in his
possession (although he later admitted “by the
Master of his soul” that it was in a dilapidated
condition and, as such, was not even worth four
dirhams
)
.
The Prophet then instructed him - “since I
have married you to Fatimah” - to send the coat of
armor to Fatimah, thereby making his union lawful.
This then was the sum total of Fatimah’s dower.
167
