Islamic Fiqh > Marriage and family > Mahr in Islamic law
Mahr: its mention recommended not obligatory, marriage without mahr remains valid, the reported minimum, mahr al-mithl when unnamed, and half-mahr by divorce before relation.
Mahr is the dower owed to the wife: its mention is recommended, not obligatory, and the marriage without mahr remains valid, the equivalent mahr (mahr al-mithl) being then due. Per the majority, no minimum amount is required: the dower is what both parties fix, even modest like the reported iron ring (al-Bukhari 5087); Hanafis cite 10 dirhams as threshold. The dower may be gold, silver or valuable goods per all. Deferred, it stays the husband's debt, claimable at divorce or death; a divorce before relation requires only the half-mahr.
Updated on 07 October 2026 at 6:42 PM
Mahr from start to finish: the equivalent mahr and when it is due, its falling cases, the minimum and maximum, accepted forms, then its place in the contract, deadlines and insolvency.
Bada'i al-Sana'i by al-Kasani · Hanafi school
...the second deserves the whole: acknowledging part of the dowry, because it was not enjoyed, therefore demands, all the more, acknowledging the whole.
As for the noble verse, the mention of enjoyment (mut'a) in it is interpreted as recommendation (nadb) and preference (istihbab), and that is what we say: the husband is recommended to it, as he is recommended to pay the dowry in its completeness to her who has not been entered; or it is interpreted as maintenance and clothing during the waiting period, for all of that is enjoyment, enjoyment being the name of what one benefits from in act.
No mandatory amount per the majority: the dower is what both parties fix (even modest, like the reported iron ring, al-Bukhari 5087); Hanafis cite 10 dirhams as threshold.
Yes: gold, silver, valuable goods: yes per all; Quran teaching: admitted per the Shafi'is (Sahl's hadith), rejected by the other schools; some contemporary Hanafi fatwas allow it.
The deferred dower stays the husband's debt, claimable at divorce or death (see the page's deferred mahr section).