Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
9. Dowry
~ 212 ~
“the most blessed marriage is one in which the
marriage partners place the least burden on each
other.”
178
Certainly, the most trouble free marriage
is one in which the existing resources are sufficient
to meet all normal requirements.
There was once a case of a certain individual having
become engaged without having anything to give
as dower. When this came to the attention of the
Prophet, he asked him over and over again if he
really had nothing to give. When the man replied in
the negative, the Prophet, far from telling him that
he should borrow money and then get married,
asked him if he had not learned certain parts of the
Qur’an by heart. On receiving an affirmative
answer from him, the Prophet said, “I therefore
marry you to that woman. The dower you give will
be that part of the Qur’an which you have
committed to memory. “
179
In other words, he
should have to teach that part of the Qur’an to his
wife.
The simplicity which marked the occasion of
marriage in the days of the Prophet is well
illustrated by ‘Abdur Rahman ibn ‘Auf, one of the
