Woman Between Islam and Western Society
9. Dowry
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Further details on this subject may be found in the
books of
Fiqh.
In his book,
AI-Fiqh ‘aIa’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.
The different sects of
sunnis
don’t differ in
usul,
or
the fundamentals of religious belief, but only in
minor rules of practice and in certain legal
interpretations. Since, in some respects, separate
doctrines are broached, four schools of
jurisprudence have been established, known as
Hanafi, Shafi’i, Hanbali and Maliki.
All of these schools agree that delay in handing over
the dower, whether in full, or in part, is lawful,
provided that the period fixed for payment is not
indefinite. The Shafi’is also stipulate that the “period
of payment should have been, fixed in time.”
10
NO HEAVY BURDEN
The dower, which may be in cash or in kind, has to
be fixed taking into account the bridegroom’s
