Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
What is the prescribed legal amount for Mahr in Islam?
There is no minimum or maximum limit specified in the Sharīʿah for Mahr. However, moderation and balance in determining the Mahr is recommended. Whatever amount is mutually agreed upon by both parties—whether small or large—is valid and permissible.
According to the Qur’an, Sunnah, and the practice of the pious predecessors (Salaf al-Ṣāliḥīn), it is evident that Islam does not fix a specific amount for Mahr.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself fixed five hundred dirhams as the Mahr for his wives.
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1426)
❀ Sayyidunā Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه reported:
إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَعْتَقَ صَفِيَّةَ، وَجَعَلَ عِتْقَهَا صَدَاقَهَا
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ emancipated Ṣafiyyah and made her emancipation her Mahr.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 5086, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1365)
This proves that a service or action can also be made the Mahr.
❀ Sayyidunā Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه narrated:
When Abū Ṭalḥah proposed marriage to Umm Sulaym رضي الله عنها, she said:
"O Abū Ṭalḥah! A man like you is not to be rejected, but you are a disbeliever and I am a Muslim woman. It is not permissible for me to marry you. However, if you embrace Islam, that will be my Mahr, and I shall not ask for anything else."
Abū Ṭalḥah accepted Islam, and thus his Islam became her Mahr.
Thābit said:
“I have not heard of any woman who had a more valuable Mahr than Umm Sulaym رضي الله عنها, for her Mahr was Islam itself.”
Later, Abū Ṭalḥah رضي الله عنه consummated the marriage with her and a child was born.
(Sunan al-Nasā’ī: 3341 – chain ḥasan)
Authenticated by Imām Ibn Ḥibbān (7187) and Ḥāfiẓ Ḍiyā al-Maqdisī in al-Mukhtārah: 426
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar also graded its chain as authentic.
(Fatḥ al-Bārī: 9/115)
❀ The Prophet ﷺ once said to Sayyidunā Sahl bin Saʿd رضي الله عنه regarding Mahr:
اِلْتَمِسْ وَلَوْ خَاتَمًا مِنْ حَدِيدٍ
“Search for something (to offer as Mahr), even if it is an iron ring.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 5121, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1425)
There is no fixed minimum for Mahr. Any mutually agreed item or service, regardless of its value, can serve as Mahr. Some claim ten dirhams as a minimum limit, but this is not established by any authentic evidence. All such narrations are weak or unauthenticated.
❀ Imām Ibn al-Mundhir رحمه الله (d. 319 AH) said:
لا نعلم حجة تثبت صداقا معلوما، لا يجوز غيره
“We do not know of any evidence that fixes a specific amount of Mahr such that anything else is impermissible.”
(al-Ishrāf ʿalā Madhāhib al-ʿUlamā’: 1/36)
❖ Question:
What is the prescribed legal amount for Mahr in Islam?
✿ Answer:
There is no minimum or maximum limit specified in the Sharīʿah for Mahr. However, moderation and balance in determining the Mahr is recommended. Whatever amount is mutually agreed upon by both parties—whether small or large—is valid and permissible.
According to the Qur’an, Sunnah, and the practice of the pious predecessors (Salaf al-Ṣāliḥīn), it is evident that Islam does not fix a specific amount for Mahr.
◈ Mahr of the Wives of the Prophet ﷺ:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself fixed five hundred dirhams as the Mahr for his wives.
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1426)◈ Freedom of a Slave Woman as Mahr:
❀ Sayyidunā Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه reported:
إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَعْتَقَ صَفِيَّةَ، وَجَعَلَ عِتْقَهَا صَدَاقَهَا
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ emancipated Ṣafiyyah and made her emancipation her Mahr.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 5086, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1365)This proves that a service or action can also be made the Mahr.
◈ Mahr in the Form of Embracing Islam:
❀ Sayyidunā Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه narrated:
When Abū Ṭalḥah proposed marriage to Umm Sulaym رضي الله عنها, she said:
"O Abū Ṭalḥah! A man like you is not to be rejected, but you are a disbeliever and I am a Muslim woman. It is not permissible for me to marry you. However, if you embrace Islam, that will be my Mahr, and I shall not ask for anything else."
Abū Ṭalḥah accepted Islam, and thus his Islam became her Mahr.
Thābit said:
“I have not heard of any woman who had a more valuable Mahr than Umm Sulaym رضي الله عنها, for her Mahr was Islam itself.”
Later, Abū Ṭalḥah رضي الله عنه consummated the marriage with her and a child was born.
(Sunan al-Nasā’ī: 3341 – chain ḥasan)Authenticated by Imām Ibn Ḥibbān (7187) and Ḥāfiẓ Ḍiyā al-Maqdisī in al-Mukhtārah: 426
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar also graded its chain as authentic.
(Fatḥ al-Bārī: 9/115)◈ Minimal Mahr Encouraged:
❀ The Prophet ﷺ once said to Sayyidunā Sahl bin Saʿd رضي الله عنه regarding Mahr:
اِلْتَمِسْ وَلَوْ خَاتَمًا مِنْ حَدِيدٍ
“Search for something (to offer as Mahr), even if it is an iron ring.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 5121, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1425)
Conclusion:
There is no fixed minimum for Mahr. Any mutually agreed item or service, regardless of its value, can serve as Mahr. Some claim ten dirhams as a minimum limit, but this is not established by any authentic evidence. All such narrations are weak or unauthenticated.
❀ Imām Ibn al-Mundhir رحمه الله (d. 319 AH) said:
لا نعلم حجة تثبت صداقا معلوما، لا يجوز غيره
“We do not know of any evidence that fixes a specific amount of Mahr such that anything else is impermissible.”
(al-Ishrāf ʿalā Madhāhib al-ʿUlamā’: 1/36)