It is also reported that he, may Allah be pleased with him, wished to set a limit beyond which women’s dowries could not rise. A woman said to him, “Allah says: ‘And you have given one of them a great sum’ [al-Nisā’: 20].” He replied, “Everyone understands the religion better than you, O ʿUmar—even a woman.”
Al-Shaʿbī related that ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, addressed the people, praising and glorifying Allah, then said: “Do not make women’s dowries excessive. If I hear that anyone has given more than the Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave or was given, I shall place the excess in the public treasury.” He then descended from the pulpit, and a woman of Quraysh approached him and said, “Commander of the Faithful, which deserves to be followed: the Book of Allah or your words?” He replied, “The Book of Allah, of course. Why do you ask?” She said, “You have forbidden people to make women’s dowries excessive, yet Allah says in His Book: ‘And you have given one of them a great sum, do not take any of it back’ [al-Nisā’: 20].” ʿUmar then said, two or three times, “Everyone understands the religion better than ʿUmar.” He returned to the pulpit and told the people, “I had forbidden you to make women’s dowries excessive. Let a man do as he wishes with his wealth.”
Thus, may Allah be pleased with him, he withdrew the view he had reached through independent judgment out of concern for the people, accepting instead what the evidence presented to him established. He permitted this for the people and acted upon it himself, giving Umm Kulthūm, the daughter of ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib, may Allah be pleased with him, a dowry of forty thousand.
Further evidence that both small and large dowries are permissible is the report that “when the Negus married Umm Habībah to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, he gave her a dowry of four thousand on his behalf, provided her wedding preparations at his own expense, and sent her to him with Shurahbīl ibn Habībah.” The Prophet did not disapprove of what he had done, nor, according to what has been reported, did he give her anything himself. Allah knows best.
Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, may Allah be pleased with him, married his daughter to ʿAbd Allah ibn Wadāʿah for two dirhams—or, according to other reports, three or four dirhams. The account of how he married her to him is well known. Had he wished to marry her to a wealthy man of high standing for four thousand, or many times that amount, he could have done so, for people competed for her hand. Success comes only through Allah, Exalted is He.
Section
Marriage Is Not Valid Without a Guardian
Only a woman’s guardian may give her in marriage. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:
“Marry off those among you who are unmarried” [al-Nūr: 32].
He also says:
“Do not marry your women to polytheistic men until they believe” [al-Baqarah: 221].
This address