DOWRY AND DOWER

Prophet’s guardianship. They had become more like father and son. It was natural that on the occasion of his marriage, the Prophet, as his guardian, should give him some necessary items with which to set up his home. DOMESTIC NECESSITIES Jahhaza, as used in the traditions meant the 'furnishing of provisions'. The current trend is to give the girl an ample dowry at the time of her marriage, to set up her new home with ease. But this is a wholly unIslamic concept and has no bearing on the ideals of marriage. Had it been a traditional Islamic practice, precedents would have been set in the Prophet’s lifetime. The Prophet gave household items to Fatimah, largely on account of his close relationship with Ali, and gave nothing at all to his other three daughters on the occasion of their marriages. Had dowry-giving been an established way of the Prophet, he would surely have given it to his other daughters as well. THE REAL GIFT One regrettable aspect of dowry-giving in recent times is the ostentation that goes with it. Nothing could be more un-Islamic. Even the practice of a simple marriage if followed by a lavish dowry is contrary to Islamic practice. It was certainly not the sunnah of the Prophet. Fatimah was his favorite daughter, but he neither gave her a lavish dowry nor did he send things to her home after the wedding. Even when Fatimah made a request to him for something of a material nature, he only gave her the benefit of his counsel. Despite these faithful recordings, still many seek to justify giving huge dowries by citing the Prophet’s gifts to Fatimah. But, would anyone of these people advise a daughter with blistered hands to forget about having a servant and praise God instead? Would anyone of them, on hearing of her difficulties with her in-laws, advise her to turn to God? By any standard of consistency, that is exactly what they ought to do. If anyone were to allege that Islam was an imperfect religion that failed to lay down guidelines for every eventuality, all Muslims would be up in arms. But, in practice, Muslims themselves tacitly assert this, whenever they follow such un-Islamic practices. Presently the Islamic spirit has almost vanished from the responsibilities of arranging and performing a marriage.