Dower (Mahr

MARRIAGE IN ISLAM of money, mahr (dower), as a token of his willingness to accept responsibility for bearing all necessary expenses for his wife. This is the original meaning of mahr. There are two ways of presenting mahr to the bride. One is to hand it over at the time of the marriage, in which case it is known as mahr mu’ajjal or promptly given dower. (The word mu’ajjal is derived from ‘ajilah, meaning ‘without delay’) During the time of the Prophet and his Companions, giving promptly was the accepted practice, and the amount fixed was generally relatively minimal. Another way of giving dower, according to Islamic law, is to provide it after a certain period of time. This has to be settled at the time of the marriage. This form of dower is called mahr mu’aijal, or dower given after a period of time. This has often been wilfully misinterpreted as implying an indefinite postponement of the giving of dower. The dower mentioned above, however, can take the form of some service performed by the husband. When Moses left Egypt for Madyan, he married Safoora, the daughter of the Prophet Shuayb. His dower was settled and paid off by binding himself to the service of his elderly father-in-law for a period of ten years. Only after performing this service for a full ten years did he leave Madyan for Egypt. No Heavy Burden The dower, in cash or kind, has to be fixed, keeping the bridegroom’s position in life. It should be affordable to him, be it a lump sum in cash or some article of value. The