He objected only because he misread the wording, whereas it is in fact an explicit proof for Mālik’s view.
Abū ʿUmar Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr remarked, “Once a report is carried by reliable narrators, acting upon it is obligatory.”

Issue Four
The jurists disagreed about a dowry that is later reclaimed by its true owner or is discovered to be defective.
• The majority hold that the marriage itself remains intact. They then differed: must the wife be compensated with the market value, with an item of equal kind, or with the customary dowry?
– Imām al-Shāfiʿī gave two opinions, saying in one that she receives the value, and in another that she receives the customary dowry.
• Within the Mālikī school the same divergence is found: one report says she is given the value; another, an item of equal kind.
Abū ʾl-Ḥasan al-Lakhmī added: “If it were said that she is given whichever is less—the value or the customary dowry—that too would be a plausible view.”
• Sahnūn alone held that the marriage is void.

The underlying issue is whether marriage in this respect is to be likened to a sale.
– Those who draw the analogy declare the contract annulled.
– Those who deny the analogy say it is not annulled.

Issue Five
They also differed concerning a man who marries a woman on the condition that her dowry be one thousand if he has no other wife, but two thousand if he already has a wife.
• The majority deem the condition permissible. Yet they disagreed about what becomes binding:
– Some jurists validated the stipulation outright, granting her whatever amount the condition dictates.
– Another group maintained that she is entitled only to the customary dowry; this is the opinion of al-Shāfiʿī and Abū Thawr. Abū Thawr, however, added that if he divorces her before consummation she is awarded nothing but a consolatory gift (mutʿah).
– Abū Ḥanīfah said: if the husband already has a wife, the dowry is one thousand dirhams; if he has none, she receives the customary dowry so long as it does not exceed two thousand or fall below one thousand.

A further inference could be drawn—that the marriage is void because of the element of uncertainty—though I do not presently recall a specific text in the school that states this. These, then, are the most celebrated questions in this chapter, and their subsidiary rulings are many.

They also disagreed about the criteria by which the customary dowry is assessed when it must be awarded in these and similar cases.
• Mālik said: one looks to her beauty, social rank, and wealth.
• Al-Shāfiʿī said: comparison is made only with the women of her agnate family.
• Abū Ḥanīfah said: the comparison extends to women of her kin, both agnate and otherwise.
The disagreement turns on whether equivalence is confined to lineage alone, or includes lineage, wealth, and beauty as indicated by the Prophet’s words: “A woman is married for her religion, her beauty, and her lineage.”

Issue Six: The Husband and Wife Differ Over the Dowry
Their dispute may concern possession, amount, type, or the time at which it falls due.

If they disagree about the amount—she claiming, for instance, two hundred and he claiming one hundred—the jurists again parted ways:
• Mālik said: if the dispute arises before consummation, and each produces a plausible claim, they both swear oaths and the contract is rescinded. If one swears while the other refuses, the oath-taker’s word prevails. If both refuse, the case is treated as though both had sworn. Whichever of them brings convincing evidence has his or her statement accepted. If the disagreement occurs after consummation, the husband’s word prevails.
• Another group held that the husband’s statement prevails, provided he swears an oath; this is the view of Abū Thawr, Ibn Abī Laylā, Ibn Shubruma, and others.
• A third group said: the wife’s word is accepted up to the amount of her customary dowry, while the husband’s word is accepted for anything beyond that figure.