Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
Can only something with monetary value be set as Mahr, or can an act or service also be validly considered as Mahr in Islamic law?
✿ Answer:
If both parties mutually agree to make a particular act or service the Mahr, then it is valid and permissible in Islamic law. It is not necessary that the Mahr be a material possession with financial value.
◈ Examples from the Sunnah:
① Freedom as Mahr:
❀ Sayyidunā Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه reported:
إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أعتق صفية، وجعل عتقها صداقها
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ emancipated Ṣafiyyah and made her emancipation her Mahr.”
📚 [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 5086, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1365]
② Embracing Islam as Mahr:
❀ Sayyidunā Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه narrated:
When Abū Ṭalḥah proposed to Umm Sulaym رضي الله عنها, she replied:
“O Abū Ṭalḥah! A man like you is not to be rejected, but you are a disbeliever and I am a Muslim woman. I cannot marry you unless you embrace Islam. If you accept Islam, that will be my Mahr, and I shall not ask for anything else.”
Abū Ṭalḥah accepted Islam, and his Islam became her Mahr.
Thābit said:
“I have not heard of a woman who had a Mahr more valuable than Umm Sulaym رضي الله عنها—for she received Islam as her Mahr.”
Later, Abū Ṭalḥah رضي الله عنه consummated the marriage and they had a child.
📚 [Sunan al-Nasāʾī: 3341 – chain ḥasan]
✅ Authenticated by:
- Imām Ibn Ḥibbān (7187)
- Ḥāfiẓ Ḍiyā al-Maqdisī in al-Mukhtārah: 426
- Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar in Fatḥ al-Bārī: 9/115
③ Teaching Qur’an as Mahr:
❀ Sayyidunā Sahl bin Saʿd رضي الله عنه narrated:
A woman offered herself in marriage to the Prophet ﷺ. A man stood up and said: “O Messenger of Allah, marry her to me.”
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Go and find something (to give as Mahr), even if it’s an iron ring.”
He returned with nothing.
The Prophet ﷺ then asked him:
“Do you know anything from the Qur’an?”
He replied: “Yes.”
Then the Prophet ﷺ said:
“I marry her to you for what you know of the Qur’an.”
📚 [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 5149, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1425]
✅ Conclusion:
- Mahr can be financial, such as gold, silver, money, property, etc.
- Mahr can also be non-material, such as:
- Emancipation
- Embracing Islam
- Teaching the Qur’an
- Any act or service beneficial to the wife
So long as both parties agree, an act or deed may be designated as Mahr.
