From four hundred dirhams to five hundred, and whatever is valid as a price or a wage is valid as a mahr, even if it is small

The Shaykh : The author said, "From four hundred dirhams to five hundred". The author, may Allah have mercy on him, specified it as "from four hundred dirhams to five hundred". How much is four hundred dirhams in the existing riyals? It is 112 riyals in the existing riyals, because every two hundred dirhams is fifty-six riyals in the silver Arabi riyal. Therefore, the nisab of silver is fifty-six riyals in the silver riyal. So the mahr that the author intended to be in the amount of one hundred and twelve silver riyals to five hundred—add twenty-eight, which is half of fifty-six. How much is that? One hundred and forty. That means the upper limit of the reduced amount is one hundred and forty riyals, and the lower limit is 112, one hundred and twelve. Yes, in any case, you now know the reduction. Yes, he said, may Allah have mercy on him, "and whatever is valid as a price or a wage is valid as a mahr, even if it is small". This is the criterion. If it is asked, what is the mahr that suffices? We say, whatever is valid as a price or a wage is valid as a mahr. Now, wages are for benefits, and prices are for objects. For example, if he says the mahr is that I will work in her farm for a full day, who says this? The husband. Is this a price or a wage? It is a wage. Now, the price: he says the mahr is that I will give her a gold ring. This is a price. That means, whatever is the subject of a sale contract or a lease contract is valid to be a mahr.