Woman in Islamic Shariah

9. Dowry ~ 206 ~ 167. Ibn Karhir, As-Sirah an-Nabawiyah, 2/544. 168. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Masnad, Kitab al-’Ilm, 4/58. MAHR MU’AIJAL Another way of giving dower, according to the shari’ah is to hand it over, not on the occasion of the marriage, but after a certain period of time, the duration of which is fixed by the man. This has to be settled at the time of the marriage if mahr is not to be handed over immediately. This form of dower is called mahr mu’ajjal, “a period of time.” This has often been willfully misinterpreted as implying an indefinite postponement of the giving of dower. But this is quite erroneous, for a definite date has always to be fixed for the discharging of this responsibility. Mahr mu’ajjal, however, can take the form of some service performed by the husband, one notable example of which was the grazing of cattle by the Prophet Moses. When Moses left Egypt for Madyan, he married Safoora, the daughter of the Prophet Shu’ayb. His mahr mu’ajja! was settled and paid off by binding himself to grazing the cattle of his