Does the father have the right to take his daughter's mahr?

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Question:
Is the mahr the right of the wife only? Or does her father have the right to spend from it on her affairs and the wedding party and the like?

Answer:
The mahr is the right of the wife. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said:

And give the women [upon marriage] their [bridal] gifts graciously. But if they give up willingly to you anything of it, then take it in satisfaction and ease.

وَآتُوا النِّسَاءَ صَدُقَاتِهِنَّ نِحْلَةً فَإِن طِبْنَ لَكُمْ عَن شَيْءٍ مِّنْهُ نَفْسًا فَكُلُوهُ هَنِيئًا مَّرِيئًا

[An-Nisa 4:4]

, and He the Exalted said: “And give them their mahr as a duty.” So the mahr is the right of the wife and belongs to her. However, if the wali is her father, he may take from her mahr and from her wealth whatever does not harm her and whatever she does not need, based on the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): “You and your wealth belong to your father.” He said:

The pleasantest things you enjoy come from what you earn, and your children come from what you earn

صلى الله عليه وسلم ان اطيب ما اكلتم من كسبكم وان اولادكم من كسبكم

Mishkat al-Masabih 2770

So the father may take from his daughter’s mahr to the extent that it does not harm her and she does not need it. But if the wali is other than the father, other than the grandfather—meaning the wali is one of her brothers, yes, for example, or one of her sons, or one of her grandsons—then he does not take from her mahr except what she has consented to.

But if they give up willingly to you anything of it, then take it in satisfaction and ease.

فَإِن طِبْنَ لَكُمْ عَن شَيْءٍ مِّنْهُ نَفْسًا فَكُلُوهُ هَنِيئًا مَّرِيئًا

[An-Nisa 4:4]

This address is general for husbands and for the awliya. Yes.

Source قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل للأب حق في أخذ مهر ابنته؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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