by Allah—and by the majority of his companions and those who share their view. Some Mālikī scholars have argued that marriage is not permissible for a dowry of less than three dirhams as follows: When Allah Most High made the lack of financial means a condition for marrying slave women, permitting it to those who lacked such means, this showed that not everyone possesses those means. If a copper coin, a sixth of a dirham, or a handful of barley sufficed, no one would lack them. It is known that “means” in this verse refers to wealth, and nothing less than three dirhams can be called wealth. It therefore follows that lawful sexual access cannot be obtained through something that does not constitute such means. This argument, however, is not clear-cut; the argument I presented earlier is stronger. Success comes only through Allah, Exalted is He.
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As for the maximum dowry, there is no fixed limit. Its amount depends on what husbands and wives mutually agree upon, and on their standing and circumstances. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:
“Even if you have given one of them a great sum, do not take any of it back” [al-Nisā’: 20].
A qintār is 1,200 dinars. Nevertheless, scholars prefer keeping dowries modest to making them excessive. It is reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Be accommodating concerning dowries.” Despite his exalted rank and standing, and that of his wives, their dowries were twelve ūqiyyahs and one nash. An ūqiyyah is forty dirhams, and a nash is twenty dirhams, making a total of five hundred dirhams. He would also marry off his daughters for similar amounts, despite their exalted rank and standing, because he kept their dowries modest.
It is reported that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked a man of the Ansār about a woman he had married: “How much did you give her as a dowry?” He replied, “Two hundred dirhams.” He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Even if you were scooping it up from the valley floor, you would not have given more…”
It is also reported that ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Hadrad married a woman for four ūqiyyahs and informed the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He said: “Even if you were hewing it out of a mountain, you would not have given more.”
ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb said: “Do not make women’s dowries excessive. Had that been an honour in this world or an act of piety before Allah, Mighty and Majestic, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would have been more entitled to it than you. Yet he neither gave any of his wives more than twelve ūqiyyahs nor had any of his daughters married for more than that. Indeed, one of you may make his wife’s dowry so excessive that he comes to harbour resentment towards her, saying, ‘I have endured the utmost hardship on your account!’”