Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
9. Dowry
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Islam, one being
mahr mu’ajjal,
which is handed
over at the time of the marriage, and the other being
mahr mu’ajjal,
which is to be given later, but at a
definite point in time. That is, the man must fix a
date for its payment, and must abide by it. The third
custom, according to which a dower is to be given,
without any time being appointed for the
fulfillment of this due, is not in accordance with the
Islamic
shari’ah.
Whatever is done on this basis is
certainly unlawful.
181. Thomas Patric Hughes,
Dictionary of Islam
, p.
91.
SURE SOLUTION
What parents try to achieve — unsuccessfully —
through the fixing of heavy dowers, is stability in
their daughters’ marriages. But such stability relates
more to the girl’s appreciation of the realities of life
than to the manipulation of the dower, or to any
other material consideration. It is unfortunate that a
great deal of wishful thinking is indulged in in our
present society, whereas what is needed is a keener
awareness of the root cause of familial and societal
problems. The commonest manifestation of these
