❖ Paying Mahr Is Obligatory—Be It a Simple Ring or Qur’an Instruction
By: Imran Ayub Lahori
✿ Qur’anic Evidences on the Obligation of Mahr
➊ Surah An-Nisāʾ (4:4):
وَآتُوا النِّسَاءَ صَدُقَاتِهِنَّ نِحْلَةً
“Give the women their dower (mahr) as a free gift.”
➋ Surah An-Nisāʾ (4:24):
فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُم بِهِ مِنْهُنَّ فَآتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً
“When you enjoy [marital relations] with them, give them their due compensation (mahr) as an obligation.”
➌ Surah Al-Mumtaḥanah (60:10):
وَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ أَن تَنكِحُوهُنَّ إِذَا آتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ
“There is no blame upon you for marrying them when you have given them their due (mahr).”
➍ Surah An-Nisāʾ (4:20):
فَلَا تَأْخُذُوا مِنْهُ شَيْئًا
“Then do not take anything from it (mahr).”
✿ Prophetic Practice: Payment of Mahr
➎ The Prophet ﷺ gave mahr to all his wives and arranged it for his daughters.
[Al-Mughnī: 10/98]
➏ Ibn ʿAbbās (RA) narrated:
When ʿAlī (RA) married Fāṭimah (RA), the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Give her something.”
ʿAlī (RA) replied, “I have nothing.” The Prophet ﷺ asked:
“Where is your Ḥutamī armor?”
[Sahih: Abu Dawood: 1865, 2125; Nasa’i: 3375]
✿ Names of Mahr in Sharīʿah
There are nine terms used for mahr:
➊ Ṣadāq
➋ Ṣadaqah
➌ Mahr
➍ Niḥlah
➎ Farīḍah
➏ Ajr
➐ ʿAlā’iq
➑ ʿUqr
➒ Ḥibāʾ
[Al-Mughnī: 10/97]
✿ Hadiths on Mahr – Even If Very Small
➐ The Prophet ﷺ said to a man who wished to marry:
“Search for something, even if it is an iron ring.”
When he had nothing, the Prophet ﷺ asked what portion of the Qur’an he had memorized. Upon hearing he had memorized certain surahs, the Prophet ﷺ said:
“I have married her to you for what you know of the Qur’an.”
[Bukhari: 5087, 5130; Muslim: 1425; Ahmad: 5/330; Abu Dawood: 2111; Tirmidhi: 1114; Nasa’i: 6/113; Ibn Majah: 1889]
➑ The Prophet ﷺ made the freedom of Ṣafiyyah (RA) her mahr.
[Bukhari: 5086]
➒ ʿĀ’ishah (RA) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ’s wives’ mahr was:
12 uqiyyah and one nash = 500 dirhams.
[Muslim: 1426; Abu Dawood: 2205; Nasa’i: 6/116; Ibn Majah: 1886]
➓ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān bin ʿAwf (RA) gave gold equal to a date stone in weight.
[Sahih: Abu Dawood: 1854, 2109]
⓫ Saʿīd bin al-Musayyib (رحمه الله) married his daughter off for just two dirhams.
[Al-Mughnī: 10/99]
✿ Weak Narration Clarified
The report that a woman from Banū Fazārah married in exchange for a pair of sandals is weak.
[Ḍaʿīf: Ibn Majah: 413; Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 1966]
✿ No Fixed Minimum or Maximum for Mahr
There is no set minimum or maximum for mahr:
✔ Minimum: Proven by authentic Hadiths like the iron ring and Qur’an recitation.
✔ Maximum: Qur’anic reference:
“Even if you give one of them a qinṭār (a great treasure)...”
[Surah An-Nisāʾ: 20]
This is the view of Imams Ahmad and Shāfiʿī, and also held by:
ʿUmar (RA), Ibn ʿAbbās (RA), Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Saʿīd bin al-Musayyib, Rabīʿah, al-Awzāʿī, al-Thawrī.
✿ View of Ḥanafīs and Mālikīs
They state that the minimum mahr is 10 dirhams.
[Al-Mughnī: 10/99; Badāʾiʿ aṣ-Ṣanāʾiʿ: 2/275; Al-Umm: 7/223]
Their evidence:
“There is no mahr less than ten dirhams.”
[Dāraquṭnī: 3/244; Bayhaqī: 7/133]
→ But this narration is weak due to unreliable narrators:
Ḥajjāj bin Arṭāh (known for tadlīs) and Mubashshir bin ʿUbayd (abandoned).
[Nayl al-Awṭār: 4/250]
✿ This Weak Hadith Cannot Override the Qur’an
Even if it were authentic, it would still be invalid for restricting the Qur’an's general statement:
“That you seek them with your wealth...”
[An-Nisāʾ: 24]
[Al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ: 3/464; Al-Burhān: 1/426; Al-Iḥkām by Āmidī: 2/1; Minhāj al-ʿUqūl: 2/166]
✿ Preferred View and Supporting Scholars
The opinion of Imam Shāfiʿī (رحمه الله) is preferred, supported by:
✔ Shawkānī (رحمه الله)
✔ Ibn Qudāmah (رحمه الله)
✔ Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān (رحمه الله)
✔ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Mubārakpūrī (رحمه الله)
[Al-Rawḍah an-Nadiyyah: 2/75; Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī: 4/262]
✿ Clarification on Alleged Retraction by ʿUmar (RA)
The popular claim that ʿUmar (RA) retracted his statement
“Do not exaggerate in dowries”
due to a woman quoting the Qur’an is a weak and rejected narration.
[Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 6/347, under Hadith 1927]
Conclusion
Paying mahr is an obligatory part of marriage, and there is no minimum or maximum limit.
Whether it’s a ring, teaching Qur’an, or even a large amount—it is valid as long as mutually agreed and within one’s means.
The Shariah prioritizes intention, ease, and honor—not formality or extravagance.
