What is your opinion if a woman gives a man money to be her mahr so that he will marry her?
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The questioner : What is your opinion if a woman gives a man money to be her mahr so that he will marry her?
The Shaykh : He asks, saying: If a woman gives her mahr to her husband, is it valid or not? She gave it to him and then gifted it to him; what is the benefit? He gave it to her on their first night, then she returned it to him, and then he returned it to her? Do you know what you are saying or not?
The Shaykh : Now, the woman said, "O so-and-so, the mahr you gave me is a gift to you." Does that mean she gifted him money to be her mahr? I did not understand it that way. This is also permissible, meaning there is nothing wrong with her gifting him money, but I fear that if she gifted him the money, he would say, "Praise be to Allah," because she gifted it to him and that is the end of it. As for the issue of returning the mahr to him after the contract is concluded, this happens often. It happens often. In the past, among us here in our land, a man would give a woman her mahr, her bridal gift, and he was poor. In some cases, a man married a woman and gave her a mahr of one riyal, just one riyal. On the morning of the wedding day, a man knocked on the door while she was with her family on their first day and said, "Give me two riyals, I am demanding it from you." He said, "I have nothing." The man said, "Give it to me or I will complain about you," and their voices rose. She came and asked, "What is the matter?" He said, "This man is demanding the riyal from me and saying, 'Give it to me or I will complain about you.'" So she gave him the mahr and fulfilled her obligation. There is nothing wrong with this; it is good.
The Shaykh : He asks, saying: If a woman gives her mahr to her husband, is it valid or not? She gave it to him and then gifted it to him; what is the benefit? He gave it to her on their first night, then she returned it to him, and then he returned it to her? Do you know what you are saying or not?
The Shaykh : Now, the woman said, "O so-and-so, the mahr you gave me is a gift to you." Does that mean she gifted him money to be her mahr? I did not understand it that way. This is also permissible, meaning there is nothing wrong with her gifting him money, but I fear that if she gifted him the money, he would say, "Praise be to Allah," because she gifted it to him and that is the end of it. As for the issue of returning the mahr to him after the contract is concluded, this happens often. It happens often. In the past, among us here in our land, a man would give a woman her mahr, her bridal gift, and he was poor. In some cases, a man married a woman and gave her a mahr of one riyal, just one riyal. On the morning of the wedding day, a man knocked on the door while she was with her family on their first day and said, "Give me two riyals, I am demanding it from you." He said, "I have nothing." The man said, "Give it to me or I will complain about you," and their voices rose. She came and asked, "What is the matter?" He said, "This man is demanding the riyal from me and saying, 'Give it to me or I will complain about you.'" So she gave him the mahr and fulfilled her obligation. There is nothing wrong with this; it is good.