The ruling on returning the mahr to the husband if the wife commits zina
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Shaykh, in some cities, the judge rules that if the wife commits zina, the mahr is to be returned to the husband.
The Shaykh : The second.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And the one who commits zina returns it to the husband.
The questioner : He takes the mahr from the wife and returns it to her husband, and he separates them.
The Shaykh : No, that is not correct; this is incorrect.
The questioner : Even if he takes money from the one who committed zina, he takes money from the one who committed zina.
The Shaykh : No, these are rulings of the Zahiriyah school; they are legal rulings.
The questioner : But, Shaykh, the mahr that…
The Shaykh : …did not spoil for me. If she commits zina, it has not been spoiled for him, meaning that the marriage is not annulled. Then, the mahr is established for her because of what he made lawful of her private parts, established by him.
The Shaykh : The second.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And the one who commits zina returns it to the husband.
The questioner : He takes the mahr from the wife and returns it to her husband, and he separates them.
The Shaykh : No, that is not correct; this is incorrect.
The questioner : Even if he takes money from the one who committed zina, he takes money from the one who committed zina.
The Shaykh : No, these are rulings of the Zahiriyah school; they are legal rulings.
The questioner : But, Shaykh, the mahr that…
The Shaykh : …did not spoil for me. If she commits zina, it has not been spoiled for him, meaning that the marriage is not annulled. Then, the mahr is established for her because of what he made lawful of her private parts, established by him.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 3235 - 4600 في بعض الأمصار إذا زنت الزوجة فإن القاضي يلزم الزوجة بإرجاع المهر لزوجها...؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.