Section
Marriage Requires a Dowry

Marriage requires a dowry. Allah Most High says:

“Give women their dowries as a gift.” [al-Nisā’: 4]

He also says:

“O Prophet, We have made lawful to you your wives whose dowries you have paid.” [al-Ahzāb: 50]

“For the enjoyment you have had with them, give them their dowries as an obligation.” [al-Nisā’: 24]

“And you have given one of them a great sum.” [al-Nisā’: 20]

“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women because Allah has given some an advantage over others and because they spend of their wealth.” [al-Nisā’: 34]

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “There is no marriage without a guardian, a dowry, and two upright witnesses.”

Thus, a husband gains lawful sexual access to his wife only with a dowry. Allah Most High describes it as a gift, and a gift is something for which no compensation is received. It is therefore a gift from Allah Most High, which He has made obligatory upon husbands for their wives, not a payment in exchange for sexual enjoyment of them. For she enjoys him just as he enjoys her, and she experiences from it what he experiences, since intercourse is an act shared by her and her husband.

For this reason, the marriage contract does not require a dowry to be specified. Were the dowry truly a price paid for sexual access, marriage would not be valid without specifying it, just as a sale cannot be concluded without specifying the price. Allah—glorified and exalted is He—grants success.

Section
The Minimum Dowry in Marriage

Since Allah Most High has permitted marriage only with a dowry, yet no minimum amount is specified in the Quran or the Sunnah, and since the evidence establishes that there must be a minimum to which recourse is made, as marriage is not permissible for something