Section
Once the contract is concluded, the wife becomes the owner of the entire stipulated dower, together with any increase it may produce if the dower is a specified item. She is free to dispose of it, and the risk of loss or depreciation rests with her, provided she has not been prevented from taking possession.

If he pays the dower to her and then divorces her before consummation, he may reclaim half of it if it is still intact. Should it have acquired a detachable increase, that increase is hers. If the dower has perished, he takes back—when the thing is fungible—one-half of its like, and—when it is non-fungible—one-half of its value on the day the contract was made.

The person who holds the knot of marriage, that is, the power to dissolve it, is the husband.

If1 he divorces her before consummation, then whichever of the two spouses, being legally competent, waives for the other the share of the dower due to him or her, the other spouse is thereby released from liability.

If she had donated her dower to him before any separation, and something occurs that entitles him only to half of it—such as a divorce—he has recourse against her for the equivalent of one-half. If what occurs eliminates the dower altogether, he has recourse for the equivalent of the whole amount.

Section
Matters that nullify, halve, or confirm the dower
The entire dower—including the consolation gift (mutʿah)—is voided before consummation in the following cases: separation through mutual imprecation (liʿān); his annulment on account of her defect; and any separation2 originating from her side, such as her annulment on account of his defect, her embracing Islam while married to a non-Muslim, her apostasy while married to a Muslim, or her breastfeeding3 a person whose suckling renders the marriage void.