the judge of his district, who will examine the motives that led him to do so. If he considers the excess acceptable, he may ratify it; but if he deems it should be revoked, he shall oblige the offender to return the surplus, in accordance with his judicial discretion. Success is by Allah alone. May blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and all his Companions.

The Council of Senior Scholars

Resolution of the Islamic Fiqh Council on the Spread of the Dowta Custom in India

All praise belongs to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. To proceed:

The Islamic Fiqh Council has reviewed the translated letter of our brother ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Hindī, in which he describes his efforts to combat “dowta”—the sum that the bride is required to pay in India’s Muslim society as a condition of marriage—and proposes that Indian Muslims suffice with recording the mahr in the marriage register without actually handing it to the bride. Much has been written on this matter in various Islamic Tamil newspapers. Brother ʿAbd al-Qādir goes on to say: “Accordingly, such a marriage is unlawful, and the children born from it are illegitimate according to the Qur’an and Sunnah.”

The Council also examined the letter of Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan al-Nadwī addressed to the Secretary-General of the League, dated 16/3/1404 AH, in which he states: “The dowta issue is widespread among the inhabitants of India; it is primarily a Hindu practice that entered the Muslim community because of the interaction of their daughters with Hindu girls. Muslim leaders are striving to eradicate this custom, and the Indian government has likewise begun to discard it… I believe it will suffice for our Fiqh Council to issue a fatwa and a statement on this matter, prohibiting Muslims from following an oppressive pre-Islamic custom such as dowta, which has crept