and wealth, meaning that the prospective husband must own the dower and be able to provide maintenance; a man’s trade or craft is likewise weighed in the assessment of suitability.

If a woman contracts her own marriage and accepts a dower lower than that of her peers, her guardians, according to Abū Ḥanīfa, may object until she either receives the full equivalent dower or the husband severs the union.

When a father marries off his minor daughter and reduces her dower, or marries off his minor son and increases the dower he is to pay, the arrangement is binding upon both children. No one other than the father or the grandfather is permitted to do this.

A marriage contract is valid whether a dower is specified or left unspecified. The minimum dower is 10 dirhams; if less is named, she is nonetheless entitled to 10. If 10 or more are stipulated, the husband is liable for the named amount once consummation takes place or if he dies while still married; should he divorce her before consummation and seclusion, she is entitled to one-half of that named sum.

If the marriage is concluded without any dower being named, or on the condition that there be no dower, she receives a dower equivalent to that of her peers upon consummation or his death. If he divorces her before consummation, she is entitled to mutʿa (a consolatory gift) consisting of three garments appropriate to her social standing.

Should a Muslim stipulate wine or pork as the consideration for marriage, the contract remains valid, but she is entitled to an equivalent dower.

If he marries her without actually handing over a dower and the two later agree on a specific amount, that amount becomes hers upon consummation or his death; if he divorces her before consummation she is entitled to mutʿa.

Should he increase the dower after the contract, the increase becomes binding upon him, yet it lapses if divorce occurs before consummation. If she remits part of her dower, the remission is valid.

When a husband is alone with his wife and no legal impediment to intercourse exists, then divorces her, she is entitled to the full dower. If, however, either spouse is ill, fasting in Ramadan, in a state of consecration for obligatory or supererogatory ḥajj or ʿumrah, or she is menstruating, the seclusion is not deemed valid. If a castrated man is alone with his wife and then divorces her, she likewise receives the full dower according to Abū Ḥanīfa.

Mutʿa is recommended for every divorcee except one: the woman divorced before consummation for whom no dower had been stipulated.

If one man marries his daughter to another on condition that the latter marry him his sister or daughter, with each contract serving as the consideration for the other, both marriages are valid and each woman is entitled to a dower equivalent to that of her peers.

If a free man marries a woman in return for a year of service or for teaching her the Quran, she is entitled to an equivalent dower; and if a slave, with his master’s permission, marries a free woman on condition that he serve her for a year, the contract is valid.

Concerning a mentally incapacitated woman, if both her father and her son concur, then the guardian