I want to know the Amount of the Fatima Meher.
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Answer:
Mehr of fatimah(r.a.)
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help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
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Messengers.
Your Question: I request u to give details regarding
Meher.
In Islam, it is an absolutely obligatory condition of
marriage that the groom-to-be fix and gift an amount to his bride-to-be at the
time of marriage, according to his means or according to his bride’s
demand. This obligatory gift that a man
gives to his bride in marriage is known as ‘mehr’ in Islamic Jurisprudence or
Fiqh terms.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah
Nisaa verse 4:
And give the women (on marriage) their dower
(mehr) as a free gift; but if they of their own good pleasure remit any part of
it to you , take it and enjoy it with right good cheer.
This Mehr is a right of the wife, and she may spend it as
she wills; but if of her own free will and good pleasure, the wife wishes to
share a part or all of the mehr amount with her husband, there is no harm.
The amount of Mehr is not fixed in Shariah. A rich man may offer according to his status
and means and a poor man according to his;
and a woman may accept or demand more according to her wish. It is
something that is offered by the man according to his status, and accepted or
rejected by the proposed bride as she wishes.
Your
Question: And is it permissible to give in gold or silver as Maher
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 3206 Narrated by Amir ibn Rabi'ah
A woman of the Banu Fazarah was married for a
dower (mehr) of two sandals. When Allah's Messenger (saws) asked whether she
was satisfied with two sandals regarding her person and her property and she
replied that she was, he (saws) gave his approval.
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 3209 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik
AbuTalhah married Umm Sulaym, the Mehr
between them being acceptance of Islam. Umm Sulaym had become a Muslim before
AbuTalhah, and when he asked her in marriage she said, "I have become a
Muslim, so if you become one I shall marry you." He then accepted Islam
and that was the Mehr arranged between them.
A ‘mehr’ in Shariah can be as paltry as two sandals or
even only the declaration of a ‘shahadaah’ of faith…..or it can be a treasure
of gold and silver, or an amount of cash, or property, or absolutely anything
else which is accepted by the bride.
As long the bride-to-be accepts and is satisfied with the
gift of the ‘mehr’ proposed or offered by her husband-to-be at the time of
their marriage; it would suffice to fulfill the obligatory condition of
determining the ‘mehr’ at the time of marriage in Shariah.
Your
Question: I want to know the Amount of the Fatima Meher.
After migration to Madinah, Fatimah (r.a.)
lived with her father (the Prophet (saws)) in the simple dwelling he (saws) had
built adjoining the Prophet’s mosque. In the second year after the Hijrah, she
received proposals of marriage through her father, two of which were turned
down. Then Ali ibn Abi Taalib (r.a.) plucked up courage and went to the Prophet
(saws) to ask for her hand in marriage. In the presence of the Prophet (saws),
however, Hadrat Ali (r.a.) became over-awed and tongue-tied. He stared at the ground and could not say
anything. The Prophet (saws) then asked him: "Why have you come, O Ali? Do you need something?" Ali still could not speak and then the
Prophet (saws) suggested: "Perhaps you have come to propose marriage to
Fatimah."
"Yes," replied Hadrat Ali (r.a.).
At this the Prophet )saws)said: "Marhaban wa ahlan - Welcome into the
family," and this was taken by Hadrat Ali (r.a.) and a group of Ansar who
were waiting outside for him as indicating the Prophet's (saws) approval. The Prophet went on to ask Hadrat Ali (r.a.)
if he had anything to give as ‘mehr’.
Hadrat Ali (r.a.) was an extremely poor man and he humbly replied that
he didn't. The Prophet (saws) reminded
him that he had a shield which could be sold.
Ali (r.a.) sold the shield to Hadrat Uthman
(r.a.) for four hundred dirhams and as he was hurrying back to the Prophet (saws)
to hand over the sum as ‘mehr’, Hadrat Uthman (r.a.) stopped him and said:
"I am returning your shield to you as a present from me on your marriage
to Fatimah (r.a.)."
Hadrat Fatimah (r.a.) and Hadrat Ali (r.a.)
were thus married probably at the beginning of the second year after the
Hijrah. She was about nineteen years old at the time and Ali (r.a.) was about
twenty one. The Prophet (saws) himself performed the marriage ceremony. At the ‘walimah’ the guests were served with
dates, figs and ‘hais’ (a mixture of dates and butter fat). A leading member of the Ansar donated a ram
and others made offerings of grain, and that constituted the ‘walimah’ or
marriage banquet of the marriage between Hadrat Ali (r.a.) and Hadrat Fatimah
(r.a.).
(The above is quoted from the book: ‘Biographies of the
people around the Prophet (saws)’)
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
Wister