If the father of the woman waives the man's mahr, is it permissible?
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The questioner : If the father of the woman...
The Shaykh : Do you mean that the father of the woman stipulated the mahr for himself, is that it?
The questioner : Do you mean that the father of the woman waived it, and he pays the mahr to his daughter on her behalf?
The Shaykh : Do you mean that the father of the wife bears the mahr of the man? May Allah reward him for that. It is permissible, and there is nothing wrong with it. I once concluded a contract, and when I said, "I give you in marriage the man," he said, "I give you in marriage my daughter for a mahr of one riyal." So the man took a riyal from his pocket and gave it to him, and it was silver, not paper, so he gave it to him. I said, "This is not acceptable, because from the beginning they were saying, 'I give you in marriage my daughter for a mahr of one riyal,' and the mahr is a lot, not one riyal. But they say, 'As long as it is mentioned in the contract, let us mention it, even if it is one riyal.' But our Shaykh, Abd al-Rahman ibn Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him), said, 'This is a religious innovation (bid'ah) with no basis. Mention the entire mahr.' So when this man said, 'I give you in marriage my daughter for a mahr of one riyal,' I thought, according to the old custom, that he was giving her many things from tangible items, and that this was according to the old custom. I said, 'This is not acceptable, this is a religious innovation (bid'ah).' He said, 'Why? Is the mahr not valid with a small amount or a large amount?' I said to him, 'Yes, but this is her mahr.' He said, 'By Allah, this is her mahr. All the wedding preparations are on me, and I do not want from him except one riyal for the sake of the contract.' Yes, that is good. So if he says, 'I will bear the entire mahr,' there is nothing wrong with it.
The Shaykh : Do you mean that the father of the woman stipulated the mahr for himself, is that it?
The questioner : Do you mean that the father of the woman waived it, and he pays the mahr to his daughter on her behalf?
The Shaykh : Do you mean that the father of the wife bears the mahr of the man? May Allah reward him for that. It is permissible, and there is nothing wrong with it. I once concluded a contract, and when I said, "I give you in marriage the man," he said, "I give you in marriage my daughter for a mahr of one riyal." So the man took a riyal from his pocket and gave it to him, and it was silver, not paper, so he gave it to him. I said, "This is not acceptable, because from the beginning they were saying, 'I give you in marriage my daughter for a mahr of one riyal,' and the mahr is a lot, not one riyal. But they say, 'As long as it is mentioned in the contract, let us mention it, even if it is one riyal.' But our Shaykh, Abd al-Rahman ibn Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him), said, 'This is a religious innovation (bid'ah) with no basis. Mention the entire mahr.' So when this man said, 'I give you in marriage my daughter for a mahr of one riyal,' I thought, according to the old custom, that he was giving her many things from tangible items, and that this was according to the old custom. I said, 'This is not acceptable, this is a religious innovation (bid'ah).' He said, 'Why? Is the mahr not valid with a small amount or a large amount?' I said to him, 'Yes, but this is her mahr.' He said, 'By Allah, this is her mahr. All the wedding preparations are on me, and I do not want from him except one riyal for the sake of the contract.' Yes, that is good. So if he says, 'I will bear the entire mahr,' there is nothing wrong with it.