Dowry

211-223 Woman Between Islam And Western Society CHAPTER 9 Dowry THE CUSTOM OF DOWRY IS NOT ISLAMIC The custom of giving dowry — a practice which has never been sanctioned by Islam — is greatly on the increase among the Muslims of India and Pakistan. As this custom is not prevalent among the Muslims of other countries, it seems quite clear that it has been borrowed by Indian and Pakistani Muslims from the Hindus of the sub-continent. The latter, in accordance with their ancient law, did not give their daughters any share in the family property, but on the occasion of their marriage — as a measure of compensation — they gave them dowries, part of which took the form of household goods. In imitating this Hindu custom in India, Muslims are denying their daughters their rightful share in the family property to which they are entitled under Islamic law. The practice of “compensating” for this by giving them wedding presents and labelling these jahaz or “dowry” (jahez in Urdu) is, in reality, a deliberate evasion of the Islamic law of inheritance. There is a body of opinion among certain Muslims which has it that jahaz is the sunnah (way) of the Prophet, because he himself gave his daughter, Fatimah, a “dowry” on the occasion of her marriage to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. FATIMAH’S DOWRY As a justification for giving dowry, in the modem sense of the word, this proposition is clearly unacceptable, for, according to early records, the “dowry” which the Prophet gave to Fatimah consisted of only the barest of household necessities. According to ‘ Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet Muhammad prepared for Fatimah a sheet, a leather bag for carrying water, and a pillow filled by idkhar (grass). 1 Abdullah ibn ‘Amr, enumerates them as a khamil (a single sheet of cloth), a leather bag for carrying water and an idkhar filled pillow made of leather.2 Asma, the daughter of ‘Umyas, relates that when Fatimah left for ‘Ali’ s house, it was quite unfurnished except for a flooring of sand, a pillow of date palm bark, a pot of water and a drinking vessel. Even the sheet which Fatimah was given had to be divided in two so that one half could be spread for sleeping on and the other half could be worn.3 If, nowadays, a girl’s dowry had to be defined purely in terms of household necessities and limited to the same few items which the Prophet gave to Fatimah, it seems unlikely that anyone would consider it becoming to give a dowry at all. Then the question arises as to why the Prophet felt obliged to give anything to Fatimah at