The dowry (mahr) and encouragement regarding it

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best of you women are those whose dowry (mahr) is the easiest and lightest." Imam Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) used to say (in explanation of this): "Even if the dowry is fixed at one dirham, it is (legally) lawful."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Tha'labah al-Khushani (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! I set out on a journey with a paternal uncle of mine, and (on the way) he became exhausted from the hardship of walking, and his feet began to hurt because they were bare. He said to me: Lend me your sandals. I said: I will not give them to you until you marry your daughter to me. Upon this he said: I have married my daughter to you. Then, when we returned to our families, he sent my sandals back to me and said: You no longer have any wife (marriage) with me." At this the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Leave her; there is no good for you in her."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Never have two matters (or options) come together except that the more beloved of the two to Allah Almighty was the easier of them."

It is narrated from Abu Ubayd (the chamberlain of Sulayman bin Abd al-Malik) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever arranges the marriage of a servant for the sake of Allah Almighty, his aim being solely the pleasure of Allah, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will crown him in Paradise with a crown by which he will be (distinctively) recognised." This narration is mursal.

It is narrated from Masruq (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) ascended the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Let me never find that anyone has fixed a dowry of more than four hundred dirhams." Then he came down from the pulpit, and a woman of Quraysh challenged him and said: O Commander of the Believers! Have you forbidden people to fix women's dowries at more than four hundred dirhams? He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Yes." The woman said: Have you not heard this statement of Allah Almighty in the Noble Qur'an: "And you have given one of them a heap of wealth"? Hearing this, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'Allahumma ghafran' (O Allah, I seek Your forgiveness). Then he said: "Everyone has a better understanding of the religion than Umar." After that he (may Allah be pleased with him) ascended the pulpit again and said: "O people! I had forbidden you to fix women's dowries at more than four hundred dirhams; now whoever wishes to give from his wealth as much as he likes, or whoever is so inclined (to fix a larger dowry), may do so."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no harm for a man in marrying with whatever he wishes of his wealth (as dowry), whether that amount is small or large, provided that he takes witnesses (to the marriage)." Besides Imam al-Harith, Muhammad bin Sabiq also narrated this through Sharik.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was distributing goats of charity among his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), and one goat would fall as a shared portion between two men; so one of them would say to the other: Leave your share to me so that I may marry with it!"

It is narrated from the grandfather of Yahya bin Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Labibah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever made (a woman) lawful (for himself through marriage) for one dirham has (indeed) made her lawful."

It is narrated from Sayyidah (a female Companion whose truthfulness was attested) that she said: "My father took part in a campaign in the Days of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah), where people's feet were being scorched by the intense heat of the ground. Then a man called out: Who will give me his sandals, and in return I will marry to him the first daughter born to me? My father took off his sandals and threw them to him. Later a daughter was born to that man, and when she reached maturity, my father demanded: Hand my wife over to me. The man said: Bring her dowry. My father replied: By Allah! I will not give anything more than these sandals. The man said: By Allah! I will not hand her over to you without a dowry. Then my father came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked about this, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Shall I not tell you something better than that? Leave her; in this way you will neither break your oath nor make your companion break his oath.' So my father gave up his claim." I (Ibn Hajar) say: Imam Abu Dawud (may Allah have mercy on him) recorded this narration through this same route up to the word "fabalaghat" (and she reached maturity), and then referred the rest of the text to the hadith of Sayyidah Maymunah bint Kardam (may Allah be pleased with her).