Chapter: And if it is stipulated that there is no mahr for her
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The Shaykh : And the summary remains. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "And if it is stipulated that there is no mahr for her, the stipulation is void and the marriage is valid". Is that how it is with you? "And if it is stipulated that there is no mahr for her, the stipulation is void and the marriage is valid".
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Is it like that with you? It is like that with you.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Look, my brother, look with your own eyes. It is present, because his saying "the stipulation is void and the marriage is valid" is the answer to all the preceding conditional clauses. Do you understand? And since it is the answer to every clause, it is implied after every clause. So, if it is stipulated that there is no mahr for her, the stipulation is void and the marriage is valid. For example, a woman proposed to a man, desiring to marry him, so she offered herself to him. He said to her, "I accept this, but on the condition that there is no mahr on me." She said, "Yes, no mahr on you." So he married her on the condition that there is no mahr for her, and the contract was concluded. The author says: "the stipulation is void and the marriage is valid". The implication of this is that the mahr is obligatory upon him and the marriage is valid. Because the meaning of "the stipulation is void" is: what is the stipulation here? That there is no mahr for her. We say this is void; rather, she has a mahr, and the marriage is valid. Now, the mahr...? The mahr. The scholars said it is the mahr of the like (mahr al-mithl), because marriage is broader than sale. A sale is not valid with the price of the like, but a marriage is valid. So we say the marriage is valid and she has the mahr of the like. This woman is a woman of high status, prestige, and power. A woman of a great emir, the daughter of a great man, the daughter of a great emir. The mahr of her like is usually one hundred thousand. So what is the situation? This poor husband who married without a mahr, how much is he obligated to pay? One hundred thousand. We say the marriage is valid and you owe the one hundred thousand. He says, "People, I don't... not even ten riyals." We say you are obligated to pay the mahr of the like, because you are greedy, wanting a woman for nothing, and that is not obtained. This woman has high value. What do we do?
The questioner : He pays.
The Shaykh : He pays. And if he refuses, he is imprisoned. If he is able to settle it, he is imprisoned until he settles it. And if he is poor, it remains in his liability. The important thing is that the contract is valid and he owes the mahr of the like. But Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that the contract is not valid and it is not permissible for him to make this woman lawful, because Allah stipulated for permissibility that it be with a mahr. So Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nisa 4:24] not that you seek it for free. And based on this, we say the contract is not valid, and in the safety of Allah, the woman is not lawful for you. Which is easier for him?
The questioner : The second one.
The Shaykh : The second is easier, provided he has not had intercourse with her. If he has had intercourse with her, then he owes the mahr of the like and they are separated. But the second is easier if he has not had intercourse with her, for example, if he entered her home, touched her, and enjoyed her, but without intercourse. Then we say in that case, you do not owe a mahr, but your marriage is not valid. Do you understand? The words of Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) are closer to the truth, because Allah stipulated for permissibility that we seek it with our wealth, and what is a condition in a contract, the contract is not valid without it.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Is it like that with you? It is like that with you.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Look, my brother, look with your own eyes. It is present, because his saying "the stipulation is void and the marriage is valid" is the answer to all the preceding conditional clauses. Do you understand? And since it is the answer to every clause, it is implied after every clause. So, if it is stipulated that there is no mahr for her, the stipulation is void and the marriage is valid. For example, a woman proposed to a man, desiring to marry him, so she offered herself to him. He said to her, "I accept this, but on the condition that there is no mahr on me." She said, "Yes, no mahr on you." So he married her on the condition that there is no mahr for her, and the contract was concluded. The author says: "the stipulation is void and the marriage is valid". The implication of this is that the mahr is obligatory upon him and the marriage is valid. Because the meaning of "the stipulation is void" is: what is the stipulation here? That there is no mahr for her. We say this is void; rather, she has a mahr, and the marriage is valid. Now, the mahr...? The mahr. The scholars said it is the mahr of the like (mahr al-mithl), because marriage is broader than sale. A sale is not valid with the price of the like, but a marriage is valid. So we say the marriage is valid and she has the mahr of the like. This woman is a woman of high status, prestige, and power. A woman of a great emir, the daughter of a great man, the daughter of a great emir. The mahr of her like is usually one hundred thousand. So what is the situation? This poor husband who married without a mahr, how much is he obligated to pay? One hundred thousand. We say the marriage is valid and you owe the one hundred thousand. He says, "People, I don't... not even ten riyals." We say you are obligated to pay the mahr of the like, because you are greedy, wanting a woman for nothing, and that is not obtained. This woman has high value. What do we do?
The questioner : He pays.
The Shaykh : He pays. And if he refuses, he is imprisoned. If he is able to settle it, he is imprisoned until he settles it. And if he is poor, it remains in his liability. The important thing is that the contract is valid and he owes the mahr of the like. But Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that the contract is not valid and it is not permissible for him to make this woman lawful, because Allah stipulated for permissibility that it be with a mahr. So Allah the Exalted said:
And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, [provided] that you seek them [in marriage] with [gifts from] your property
وأحل لكم ما وراء ذلكم أن تبتغوا بأموالكمThe questioner : The second one.
The Shaykh : The second is easier, provided he has not had intercourse with her. If he has had intercourse with her, then he owes the mahr of the like and they are separated. But the second is easier if he has not had intercourse with her, for example, if he entered her home, touched her, and enjoyed her, but without intercourse. Then we say in that case, you do not owe a mahr, but your marriage is not valid. Do you understand? The words of Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) are closer to the truth, because Allah stipulated for permissibility that we seek it with our wealth, and what is a condition in a contract, the contract is not valid without it.