Woman Between Islam and Western Society
6. The Rights of Husband and Wife
~ 359 ~
DOWER
After
nikah
the first obligation upon a man in regard
to his wife is to give her the
mahr
fixed at the time of
marriage:
And give the women (on marriage) their
dower as a free gift.
8
The
mahr
is in no way a payment for conjugal
rights. Conjugal rights are far too precious to be
equated with what is normally given as mahr. The
amount of mahr is, in actual fact, a token sum of
money, which symbolizes, in material form, the
responsibility that a man has to fulfill in regard to
his wife till his last breath.
What is this’ responsibility? It is that man will
maintain and protect his wife for life. In the family
organization the
shari’ah
has basically entrusted the
woman with looking after the house, bringing up
and training the next generation. This task is not a
profitable one. That is why a woman’s maintenance
is entrusted to her husband. If a woman had to
shoulder both the responsibility of looking after the
house as well as making money, she would not be
