Question:
My question is regarding Mahr (amount given by groom to bride). I married 7 months back and my Mahr was fixed by my father. My father and bride’s father had dialog and my father told that its good and its Sunnah of prophet SAW is Mahrul-Mithl ( may be Mahr of elder sister in the family of bride ) and my Mahr was fixed according to that only i.e. equal to Mahr given to my bride’s elder sister by her husband .I paid that in advance. Now after 7 months of marriage I came to know that my father in law thought to fix more than what was fixed but he agreed to my father in respect at last moment. Now that i came to know this fact from my wife then what should I do? I want to give the remaining amount of Mahram wife said that her elder sister’s Mahr was fixed according to their husband’s income at that time which was less when compared to my income. She said that Mahr should be fixed according to the income of groom .Is she correct? Now that I want to give more Mahr then what is the correct rule according to Islam while fixing Mahr .Please let me know in detail . If I m earning 3500 Saudi riyals per month then what should be reasonable Mahr amount to give ? Please clarify my doubt?
Answer:
The amount fixed at the time of the Nikah as Mahr, with the consent of your wife, will only be due on you. Since you have already paid the amount agreed upon there will be no obligation on you to pay more according to the Shari’ah, although it will be permissible to do so. The Mahr is fixed according to the status of the bride and not according to income of the groom.
And Allah Ta’ala knows best
Mufti Muhammad Ashraf
Darul Iftaa
Jameah Mahmoodiyah
Springs
07 December 2004
24 Shawwal 1425
This Q&A was indexed in 2012 from the website of Jameah Mahmoodiyah, South Africa. The original website no longer exists.