provide a dower, whether small or large. Mālik and his colleagues, however, hold that the minimum may be set at one-quarter of a gold dinar, or three silver dirhams by weight, or any commodity whose value equals one of those two amounts; once the commodity is worth three dirhams by weight it is an acceptable dower.
Most scholars of Medina and elsewhere impose no minimum at all for the dower, just as they impose no ceiling for its maximum. Among the Medinese who say this are Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, Ibn Shihāb, and Rabīʿa, together with many others whose names would be too numerous to list. Ibn Wahb, one of Mālik’s own pupils, is also of this opinion. We have already set out the grounds for Mālik’s view and for the opposing view, and have discussed the matter at length in Kitāb al-Tamhīd.
Mālik considers it reprehensible for the marriage to be based on a runaway slave, a stray camel, a fetus in its mother’s womb, or anything that involves gharar (undue uncertainty). Whatever cannot lawfully serve as the subject of a sale cannot be stipulated as a dower either—for example, fruit that has not yet begun to ripen but is sold on condition that it will later be picked, or a crop that has not yet reached the stage when it no longer needs irrigation, unless it is sold for immediate cutting. The same ruling applies to two slaves from which one of the spouses may choose whichever he wishes; to an absent piece of real estate that has not been described; to an item defined only on condition that, if it is not produced at the appointed time, the marriage will be void; or to a dower of which part is paid immediately and part deferred on the understanding that, should the husband die, the balance will be cancelled.
In every such case, if the marriage is contracted on the basis of any one of these conditions and the defect is detected before consummation, the contract is annulled and the woman receives nothing; if it is not detected until after consummation, the marriage stands and the woman is awarded a dower equivalent to that of her peers, whatever amount that may be, payable in cash. Such is the sum of the school’s position.
Accordingly, Mālik and a number of his companions also rule that any indeterminate deadline—such as deferring part or all of the dower until death, until separation, or until the husband becomes solvent—requires, once consummation has occurred, that the woman be given a dower equal to that of women of her rank, payable in cash, crediting her with whatever she has already received and paying the remainder; and