Woman Between Islam and Western Society
9. Dowry
~ 441 ~
been willfully misinterpreted as implying an
indefinite postponement of the giving of dower. But
this is quite erroneous, for a definite date has always
to be fixed for the discharging of this responsibility.
Mahr mu’ajjal,
however, can take the form of some
service performed by the husband, one notable
example of which was the grazing of cattle by the
Prophet Moses. When Moses left Egypt for Madyan,
he married Safoora, the daughter of the Prophet
Shu’ayb. His
mahr mu’ajjal
was settled and paid off
by binding himself to grazing the cattle of his
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.
9
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.
