Is Dowry a part of the marriage contract? or is it a pre-requisite to Nikkah

[baandaar]

As Salamu Alaikum dear brother Joseph Islam,
In one of your post in this forum, you have stated, "In my humble view from a Quranic perspective, a birdal due (ujur) would be a pre-requisite to establish the contract of marriage (4:24; 60:10).
If dowry is a pre-requisite then how do you explain 2:236 "There is no sin upon you if you divorce women before touching them or assigning for them a dowry. And give them provision upon the wealthy what is appropriate and upon he of limited resources what is appropriate - a provision based on the best (the "Known"), an obligation upon the doers of good." Noble QWuran 2:236.
This verse clearly states if you divorce women before touching them or ASSIGNING FOR THEM A DOWRY.
I would really appreciate it if you clarity this.

Thank you very much

[Joseph Islam]

Wa alaikum assalam Baandaar,

In my humble view, it is clear from the Quran that there is:

• A partial marital bond
• A full marital bond

In the main, to create a full marriage / marital bond between two consenting parties in the presence of witnesses (2:282), the following must also be fulfilled:

• Bridal due
• Consummation of marriage

This is a pre-requisite for a full marital bond where complete marriage obligations apply.

For example, if the bridal due was fixed, but the marriage was not consummated and divorce was pronounced, then only half the dower would be due unless forgone out of choice (2:236). If there was no bridal due fixed, then there would be no further obligation other than to part amicably and with a good provision (33:49).

If there was no consummation of marriage, then there would be no ‘Iddat’ (waiting period) applicable (2:236).

As you can see from the restricted obligations if (1) or (2) are absent, there is a partial and a full marital bond.

Any reference to a bridal due being a pre-requisite would be to establish a full marital bond and not a partial one. Both the bridal due and the consummation of marriage seals this marital bond after which, full marital obligations apply without restrictions.

I trust that clarifies, God willing
Joseph


REFERENCES:

[1] NIKAAH - THE CONTRACT OF MARRIAGE
http://quransmessage.com/articles/nikaah%20FM3.htm
[2] ISLAMIC DIVORCE ACCORDING TO THE QURAN
http://quransmessage.com/articles/divorce%20FM3.htm

[baandaar]

Salam brother Joseph Islam,
Thank you very much for the reply.
What is a Partial Marital bond based on Quran? How do you create a partial marital bond? Once partial marital bond is created or established, how do someone annul partial marital bond? by divorcing?
Verse 2:236 says “ no sin upon you if you DIVORCE women before touching them or assigning for them a dowry”. my understanding is you can only divorce someone if you have done Nikkah and  Nikkah is a very serious matter because it is a solemn covenant. Are you suggesting that verse 2:236 talks about partial marital bond?
I appreciate your help in advance.
Thank you,
Baandaar

[Joseph Islam]

Wa alaikum assalam

One does not set out only to create simply a partial marital bond.  It only exists because the requirements of the full marital bond are not yet complete.

The complete marital bond is a process. If it is revoked midway by divorce, then there are appropriate / restricted obligations to annul the marriage.

Regards,
Joseph

[baandaar]

Salam Alaikun Brother Joseph Islam,

I am still not convinced if Dowry is a pre-requisite for marital bond.

Verse 2:236 clearly states “There is no sin upon you if you DIVORCE women before touching them or assigning for them dowry”.
I have capitalized the word “DIVORCE” to emphasize the importance of this word in order to understand the meaning of this verse.

Divorce can only happen if a man or a woman are married. Marriage can only happen if Nikkah has been performed.
Verse 2:236 clearly used the word DIVORCE to signify that marriage (Nikkah has been performed) has been established without assigning a DOWRY, unless divorce has another meaning that I am not aware of.
Thank you,

[miracle114]

Sorry to raise this topic up again.
I was wondering whether the dowry was just a tradition that Allah cleared matters on for the Arabs but didn't reintroduce a new law for the rest of mankind. Is dowry an essential step of the nikkah process?

[Athman]

Dear miracle114,

Salamun ‘alaikum,

Kindly, briefly see my humble view below as gleaned from the relevant Qur’anic verses.

“In Islam, a woman's virginity is a noble status that should be rendered sacred and reserved only for their husband as should a man's for his wife. With the willingness of a woman to offer her chastity to a proposing man expressed in a religiously legal contract to last a lifetime, an ordained generous offering (mahr) from the man agreed upon themselves aptly serves to seal recognition of such a life-long sacrifice (4:21). This is the God ordained marriage system for believers where there’s an expectation of the ‘mahr’ to be due to the bride from the groom (33:50) in line with its expectation of a man to betroth a woman (4:25). The reasons behind that can only be surmised, while the wider wisdom is fully well known to God.” [1]

NB: Bold and black highlights are meant to emphasize my areas of interest.

Therefore, in my view, yes, I do find the bridal due (mahr) to be an essential part of the marriage process (2:236-237, 4:4, 4:24-25, 5:5, 33:50, 60:10), as a pre-requisite to the marital bond as explained in brief above by Br. Joseph.

Regards,
Athman.


REFERENCE:

[1]. Women's clothes and rape?
http://quransmessage.com/forum/index.php?topic=2674.msg13691#msg13691

[Wakas]

The original poster interpolated/inserted the word "nikah" in the verse he cited.