Islamic Fiqh > Marriage and family > Mahr in Islamic law > The minimum, maximum and forms of mahr
Updated on 06 October 2026 at 10:50 PM
The mahr is the wife's right established by the marriage contract. Islamic law has settled its nature, its amount, the modalities of its payment and the causes of its invalidity, yet the jurists of the schools have differed on several points: may one marry in exchange for the teaching of the Quran or for a service? What becomes of a mahr that is increased, reduced, waived, kept secret or deferred after the contract? The sheets below lay out these differences school by school, drawing on the Quran, the Sunnah and the classical works.