❖ Question:
Does a marriage contract take place without specifying the dowry (mahr)?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
✿ Answer:
A marriage contract is valid without specifying the amount of mahr. However, a marriage is not valid if it is conducted with the intention of excluding mahr entirely, i.e., if someone says, “We will marry without any mahr,” then such a marriage is invalid.
But if it is said, “We will give mahr,” without determining the amount at the time of the contract, then the marriage is valid, and mahr will remain due.
Allah the Exalted says:
وَآتُوا النِّسَاءَ صَدُقَاتِهِنَّ نِحْلَةً
(al-Nisā’: 4)
“And give the women their dowries with a good heart.”
❀ ʿAllāmah al-Qurṭubī رحمه الله (d. 671H) wrote:
هذه الآية تدل على وجوب الصداق للمرأة وهو مجمع عليه ولا خلاف فيه
“This verse proves that giving dowry to the woman is obligatory. It is an issue of consensus, with no disagreement among scholars.”
(Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī: 5/24)
Conclusion:
- If mahr is denied outright, the marriage is invalid.
- If mahr is acknowledged but unspecified, the marriage is valid, and mahr will later be determined and must be given.
