Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
9. Dowry
~ 207 ~
elderly father, in-law for a period of eight to ten
years. Only after performing this service for a full
ten years did he leave Madyan for Egypt.
169
169. See, Qur’an, 28:27-29.
THE OPINIONS OF JURISTS
The system of dower favored by the
shari’ah
entails
immediate handing over of
mahr
.
This was the
practice followed by all of the Prophet’s
Companions. Deferred dower is an alternative, but
is not ranked equal in merit of a prompt
discharging of this responsibility. It is simply a form
of concession made to those who are unable to meet
the requirements of
mahr
at the time of marriage.
Further details on this subject may be found in the
books of
Fiqh.
In his book,
Al-Fiqh ‘ala’l Madahib
al-Arba’ah,
‘Abdur Rahman al-Jaziri devotes 85
pages to the subject of dower. The issue of the two
systems of dower,
mu‘ajjal
and
mu’ajjal,
is discussed
in four pages. Although jurists have their
differences on this matter, these are of a minor
nature.
