The dowry (mahr)

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Marry off the unmarried women!" He said this three times, "upon whatever their families agree to, even if it is a handful of arak (pilu twigs)."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Muhammad bin Abd al-Rahman al-Baylamani, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Sahl bin Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Give them a compensation (that is, a dowry), even if it is a whip." The narrator says: That is, do this in marriage.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains narrators whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Sahl bin Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) married a man to a woman in return for an iron ring which had silver set in it.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Abdullah bin Mus'ab al-Zubayri, and he is da'if (weak).

Husayn bin Abdullah bin Dumayrah narrates from his father, from his grandfather: "A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: 'O Messenger of Allah! Marry me to so-and-so.' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'What do you have to give her as a dowry?' He said: 'I have nothing.' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Whose ring is this?' He said: 'It is mine.' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Give it to her!' And he married that man to the woman. Likewise, another man who had nothing at all, he had married off on the condition of (teaching) Surah al-Baqarah."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it, and the narrator Husayn is matruk (abandoned).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best of them (women) are those whose dowry is easiest (to pay)."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it with two chains; one of them contains Jabir al-Ju'fi, who is da'if (weak), though Shu'bah and al-Thawri declared him thiqah (trustworthy); the other contains Raja' bin al-Harith, whom Yahya bin Ma'in and others declared da'if (weak). The remaining narrators of both are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The women with the lightest dowry are the most abundant in blessing."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, al-Harith bin Shibl, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Part of a woman's blessedness is that proposing to her is easy, that paying her dowry is easy, and that her womb is easy (that is, she is able to bear children)."
Imam Ahmad recorded it, and Imam al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Saghir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; in both of these he reported this: It is reported from Urwah; Urwah says: I say: "The very first of a woman's ill omen is that her dowry is large." Its chain contains a narrator, Usamah bin Zayd bin Aslam, and he is da'if (weak), though he has also been declared trustworthy; the remaining narrators of Imam Ahmad are thiqat (trustworthy).

Yahya bin Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Labibah narrates from his father, from his grandfather: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever makes (a woman) lawful in marriage for a dirham (that is, pays one dirham as dowry), has made her lawful."
Imam Abu Ya'la recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Yahya bin Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Labibah, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed sheep from the sadaqah among his Companions. One sheep fell to the share of two men, and one of them said: "Leave your share for me! I will marry with it."
Imam Abu Ya'la recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Harb bin Maymun al-Abdi, and he is da'if (weak); Imam Abu Hatim declared him thiqah (trustworthy), and its remaining narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him), in the blessed time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), married a woman for gold equal to the weight of a date-stone, and the value of that gold was three and a third dirhams.
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say:
This report is in the "Sahih", except that the value of the date-stone is not mentioned there.
Imam al-Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Hajjaj bin Artah, and he is a mudallis (one who conceals defects in the chain).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "I have married a woman from the Ansar." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Did you look at her? For there is something in the eyes of the Ansar." He said: "Yes!" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "For how much (dowry)?" He replied: "For four uqiyahs." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "For four uqiyahs? It is as though you were chiselling silver off the side of this mountain." (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: The opening part of this report is reported in the "Sahih".
Imam al-Bazzar recorded it from Ahmad bin Aban, whom I do not know; the remaining narrators of this report are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abu Hadrad al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to seek his help in paying a woman's dowry. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "How much dowry have you set for her?" He said: "Two hundred dirhams." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Even if you were scooping it out of Buthan, you would not give more."
Imam Ahmad recorded it, and Imam al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; the narrators of Imam Ahmad are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) married Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) in return for goods (given as dowry) whose value was ten dirhams.
Imam Abu Ya'la, Imam al-Bazzar and Imam al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, al-Hakam bin Atiyyah, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) married Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) on the basis of household goods (as dowry) whose value was ten dirhams.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Amr bin al-Azhar, and he is matruk (abandoned).

Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) married me in return for goods worth forty dirhams.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Atiyyah al-Awfi, and he is da'if (weak), though he has been declared trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Sahl bin Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to send a bowl (of food) to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) every night. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) proposed marriage to a woman, he would say: "You will have this, this and this (things), and also Sa'd's bowl, which goes round with me wherever I go."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Abd al-Muhaymin bin Abbas bin Sahl bin Sa'd, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Negus (al-Najashi) married the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to Sayyidah Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her), and gave two hundred dinars (as dowry) from his own wealth.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat with two chains; one of them contains a narrator, Isma'il bin Ali al-Ansari, who narrated it from Rawwad bin al-Jarrah;
there is some weakness in Rawwad, though a group declared him thiqah (trustworthy), and the narrator Isma'il I do not know. The remaining narrators of this chain are thiqat (trustworthy), and the other chain of this report is da'if (weak).

Sayyidah Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) freed me and made my freedom my dowry.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat and al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy). In al-Mu'jam al-Awsat he stated: From Sayyidah Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her)
this report is narrated only through this chain.

Imam al-Sha'bi narrates: Sayyidah Juwayriyah (may Allah be pleased with her) was a bondwoman owned by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) freed her and made her freedom her dowry, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) freed every captive of Banu al-Mustaliq (or: made the freedom of Banu al-Mustaliq her dowry).
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it as a "mursal" report, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I wanted to propose to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for his daughter. Then I thought: I have nothing, so what shall I do? Then I remembered the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) kindness to kin and his generosity, so I made the proposal to him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Do you have anything?" I said: "No!" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Where is your Hutami coat of mail, which I gave you on such-and-such occasion?" He said: "It is with me." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then give it!" Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) says: So I gave it (the coat of mail) to him.
Imam Ahmad recorded it; its chain contains a narrator who is not named, and its remaining narrators are the narrators of the "Sahih".

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) married me to his daughter Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) in return for a Hutami coat of mail made of iron, which the Prophet himself had given me. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Send it to her, so that by it you make her lawful (for yourself)." So I sent it to her. By Allah! Its price was so much and so much, and four hundred dirhams.
Imam Abu Ya'la recorded it; the narrator Mujahid did not hear from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and the narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When I was about to marry Fatimah, I said: "O Messenger of Allah! Shall I sell my coat of mail, or sell my horse?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Sell your coat of mail!" So I sold it for twelve uqiyahs, and that became Fatimah's dowry.
Imam Abu Ya'la recorded it through Abbas bin Ja'far bin Zayd bin Talq, from his father, from his grandfather; I do not know these men, and the remaining narrators of this report are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) married Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), he said: "O Ali! Do not go in to your wife until you first give her something." Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah! I have nothing." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Give her your Hutami coat of mail." Ibn Abi Rawwad says: That coat of mail was valued at four hundred and eighty dirhams.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir in abridged form; its chain contains a narrator, Sa'id bin Zunbur, and I have not found anyone who gave his biography; the remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) married Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) in return for an iron coat of mail.
Imam al-Bazzar and Imam al-Tabarani recorded it; the narrators of Imam al-Tabarani are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) consummated his marriage with Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) before he had given her anything.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Hajjaj bin Artah, and he is a mudallis (one who conceals defects in the chain); the remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).

Mughirah bin Shibl narrates: Umar bin Hurayth proposed to Sayyiduna Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) for his daughter. He said: "I will marry her to you only on my own judgment (of the dowry)." He said: "The decision is yours." Then Sayyiduna Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I am not better than the daughters of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." So he married her to that man on the "faridah" (the prescribed dowry).
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Qays bin al-Rabi', whom Shu'bah and al-Thawri declared thiqah (trustworthy) and others declared da'if (weak); the remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).

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.

Ibn Sirin narrates: Sayyiduna Imam al-Hasan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) married a woman. The narrator says: He sent to that woman one hundred slave-girls, each slave-girl carrying one thousand dirhams.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) and Makhul narrate: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whatever dowry or promise by which a woman's private part is made lawful, that belongs to the woman; and whatever by which the woman's father or brother is honoured, or her guardian is honoured, after the marriage contract has been concluded, that belongs to that person; and a man is most entitled to that by which he is honoured on account of his daughter or sister (that is, what is given to him as a gift by the son-in-law)."
Imam Ahmad recorded it, and its chain is munqati' (broken); its chain contains a narrator, Hajjaj bin Artah, and he is a mudallis (one who conceals defects in the chain).