There is no established Shari'ah basis for setting bridal gifts

Question: Is it not the right of the state to set the bridal gift if it sees that people have exceeded the limit in bridal gifts? Is that not part of the Shari'ah policy for the benefit of the people, given the harms resulting from the high cost of bridal gifts, such as unlawful sexual intercourse, corruption, and the failure of Muslims to increase in number?

Answer: There is no basis to rely upon in the Shari'ah of Allah for setting bridal gifts. Nothing has come in the Shari'ah that necessitates setting bridal gifts. For this reason, the state has attempted it once, and indeed more than once, but it did not succeed, because there is no basis in the Shari'ah, neither in the Book nor in the Sunnah, to rely upon for setting bridal gifts at ten thousand, or twenty, or thirty, or less, or more.
Moreover, setting them may not be achieved even if they are set, for people may disobey. What is to be done with them? Are they to be beaten for something that Allah has forbidden? What is to be done with them? Are they to be imprisoned? The matter carries danger, so setting a limit is difficult. However, if a group of people or a tribe, among themselves, or the people of a village or the people of a city, among themselves, agree upon a specific amount, there is no harm in that, if Allah wills.
As for the state itself imposing a specific bridal gift on the people, which cannot be increased in any part of the Kingdom, this is difficult and has no known Shari'ah basis to rely upon, so that the state can implement it and punish whoever violates it. But in advice, guidance, and the cooperation of people of good, the notables of the people, their scholars, and their rulers in lightening and reducing it, there is much good.
As for the spread of worldly wealth among people and people's expansion in worldly wealth, some people have come to offer large sums of money if they desire the daughter of someone, while others cannot afford that. The affliction has come from this aspect: some people have much wealth and do not care, while some people cannot afford it. The result is that setting a limit at a specific amount is a matter of consideration, and I do not know in the pure Shari'ah anything that necessitates setting a limit. This was not known, neither in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor in the time of the Companions, nor after them.
Many bridal gifts came in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), indeed in the time of 'Umar and in the time of 'Uthman and after them. In the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the bridal gifts were small, and the Prophet did not expand in that, nor did his Companions in his time (peace and blessings be upon him). But after that, when wealth overflowed in the time of 'Umar, and in the time of 'Uthman, and after that, the bridal gifts rose, and a man would give a bridal gift of one hundred thousand or close to it, or more. This was a reality in the past, and so it is today, when worldly wealth has spread and overflowed upon many people, they have expanded in bridal gifts.
It is obligatory for every Muslim to take this matter seriously, to strive to obtain the means of chastity, to ask Allah for help in doing so, and to follow the possible paths that Allah has permitted. Every disease has a cure, and the rising of mahr is one of the diseases, and it has a cure through advice and guidance, and the state providing assistance to those in need of marriage by helping them from the wealth of Allah. We hope that you will be successful in this matter, so that you assist those in need every year with a substantial amount that helps them to marry and helps them to preserve their chastity. We ask Allah to grant them assistance and success, and the same for the Muslims.