Musnad Ahmad

Abu Al-Ajfa’ Salmi says that once I heard Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) repeatedly saying: O people! Do not set high dowries for your wives, because if this was a matter of honor in this world or counted as piety in the sight of Allah, then the Prophet (peace be upon him) would have been the most deserving of it. Yet, the dowry of none of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) wives or daughters was more than twelve uqiyah. And a man is tested by the dowry of his wife, which later proves to be enmity against himself, and a man even goes so far as to say: I have been forced to bring you even the rope used to tie the mouth of a waterskin. Abu Al-Ajfa’ (the narrator) says: Since I was among those slaves of Arabia who were called “Mawalladeen,” I did not know the meaning of “‘alaq al-qirbah” (the rope used to tie the mouth of a waterskin) until then. Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The second thing is that when a person is killed during jihad or dies a natural death, you people say that so-and-so has been martyred, so-and-so departed from this world as a martyr, whereas it is also possible that he had hidden gold or silver in the back of his mount or under the saddle, with which he intended to trade. Therefore, do not say with certainty about anyone that he is a martyr; however, you can say that whoever is killed or dies in the way of Allah (he is a martyr) and will enter Paradise, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to say.