Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 7502

Masruq narrates: Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) mounted the pulpit of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then he said: "O people! How much you have increased the dowries of women! Yet such was the case of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions too: their dowries used to be four hundred dirhams or less. If a large dowry were a sign of piety in the sight of Allah Almighty, or a sign of honour, you would not have surpassed them in it. So now, let me not find any man who has given a dowry of more than four hundred." The narrator says: Then he came down from the pulpit, and a woman from Quraysh confronted him and said: "O Commander of the Believers! You have forbidden people to give a dowry of more than four hundred dirhams?" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Yes!" The woman said: "Have you not heard what Allah Almighty has revealed in the Qur'an?" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "What is that?" She said: "Have you not heard Allah Almighty saying: 'And you have given one of them a heap (of wealth), then do not take anything of it back; would you take it by way of slander and manifest sin?'" So Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Allah, I ask Your forgiveness! Everyone has more understanding than Umar." Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came back, mounted the pulpit again and said: "I had forbidden you to give women a dowry of more than four hundred dirhams; now whoever among you wishes may give as much dowry as he likes." Abu Ya'la says: I think the report also contains these words: "Whoever is content with it, let him do so."
Imam Abu Ya'la recorded it in al-Kabir; its chain contains a narrator, Mujalid bin Sa'id, and there is weakness in him, though he has been declared trustworthy.