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INTRODUCTION
The dower means some money or any property, in which there have right of wife from her
husband depend on their marriage contract. In the case of Abdul Kadir Vs Salima gives the best
description of the nature of dower by Mahmood J. Actually, womens rights of dower made by
husband depend on two reasons, 1st is for islamic right and 2nd is for husbands responsibility to
his wife. And for those reasons, it is said as Haque- e-Mahar in natural language. The Quran
always order to paying off dower to his wife. There must will be paid off dower, even wife will
be slave-woman. Islam has legslated the giving of the dower by the husband to the wife in order
to please the womans heart and to honor her. It is also meant to bring an end to what was done in
the Days of Ignorance wherein she was wronged, explored, despised and robbed of her wealth.
The dower is a right exclusively for the wife.
Chapter: Two
CLASSIFICATION OF DOWER
Broadly, there are two kinds of dower:
(i) specified and
(ii) unspecified
2.2 The specified dower has been further divided into(a) prompt and
(b) deferred.
Chapter: Three
The amount of dower may be fixed either before or after marriage[21] and can be increased after
marriage.[22] It was held in Basir Ali v. Hafiz that the amount of dower may be entered into by
the father of the bride.
3.5 Maximum & Minimum Amounts of Dower
The amount of dower or mahr varies in different countries; there is no fixed rule as to the
maximum (musab Settled a dower of 500,000 dirham or the granddaughter of Abu Bakre. The
Prophet did not enunciate any fixed rule as to the amount of dower. He expressly left it to custom
and local usages but as he appears to have settled 500 dirham upon Maimuna, the Shias consider
that amount to b
These minimums have become obsolete and it is now customary in different countries to fix the
amount of dower entirely by a consideration of the circumstances of the husband and wife the
mahr-i-sunnat.
3.6 Increase or Decrease of Dower
The husband may at any time after marriage increase the dower. Likewise, the wife may remit
the dower wholly or partially in favour of her husband or his heirs. A Muslim girl who has
attained puberty is competent to relinquish her Mahr although she may not have attained
majority (18 years) within the Bangladesh Majority Act. The remission of the Mahr by a wife
called Hibe-e-Mahr.
But the remission made by the wife, should be with free consent. It was held in the case of
Nurunnessa v. Khaje Mahomed[26] that where the wife was subject to the mental distress
In has been held in a (Karachi case) Shah Bano v. Iftekar Mohammed,[27] that in certain cases
remission of dower cannot be upheld.
Chapter: Four
NECESSITY & PURPOSE OR INTENTION OF DOWER
4.1 Historical Background of Dower
It is said that during pre-historic times man lived a barbaric life, which had the tribal form. For
unknown reasons marriage was prohibited between a male and a female of the same blood.
Hence the young men of a tribe, who wanted to marry, were compelled to choose their wives
from some other tribe.
They often visited other tribes for this purpose. At that time man was not aware of his role in
begetting children. He thought that the children belonged exclusively to their mother. When
money became common, man discovered that instead of serving the brides father for years, it
was better to present a suitable gift to him and take the girl immediately. That was the origin of
the dower (mahr).
Chapter: Five
DIFFERENT SITUATIONS WHICH AFFECT THE RIGHT OF DOWER IN WOMENS
LIFE
5.1 Remission of Dower by Wife
The wife who has attained puberty may remit the dower or any part of it in favour of the
husband or his heirs. The remission would be valid although made without consideration. But it
is valid only when made by a written instrument.
5.2 Dower Payable after Consummation of Marriage
Consummation confirms or perfects the dower. So that after consummation or valid retirement a
woman has a right to her dower if a separation should take place and it does not matter whether
the cause of separation his in the husband or the wife.32
Chapter: Six
6.1The Quran
The form of the dower described above in connection with the fifth stage is not an invention of
the Quran. All that the Quran did was to restore it to its natural and pristine form. The Quran in
its incomparably elegant style says: Give to the women a free gift of their marriage portions.
(Surah an-Nisa, 4 : 4) This means that the dower belongs to women exclusively and it is a gift to
be paid directly to them. It has nothing to do with their fathers or brothers.
6.2 Sunnah
A hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) on the rights of woman regarding
dower are as under:- Omme-Habibah reported that she was the wife of Abdullah-b-Jahash who
died in the land of Abyssinia, and then the Negus gave her in marriage to the Prophet and took
from him a dower of 4000 (in another narration 4000 dirhams). Then he sent her to the Prophet
with Shurahbil-bHasanah. (Abu Daud; Nisai)
Chapter: Seven
LEGAL PROVISION REGARDING DOWER
Chapter: Eight
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Family court has got every jurisdiction to decide as to whether the kabinnama in question is a
genuine and valid document or not and whether any marriage between the petitioner and
opposite party was ever solemnised or not before it decides to grant any decree for dower and/ or
maintenance. It was decided in Mirza Mohammad v. Shazadi Wahida.[56]
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Chapter: Nine
CONCLUSION
Recommendations:
In the previous chapter I have elaborately discussed the problems in recovering dower money by
the women in Bangladesh. From there it is clear that 88% of Muslim wives do not receive any
dower at all in the metropolitan city of Dhaka so we can understand the real situation of rural
area.
The cases in Bangladesh on the issue of dower indicate that, on the one hand, there is evidence of
growing support and protection of women by allowing the wives to have their right of dower. On
the other hand, there are attempts to reduce the amount of dower by different customary
conventions. However, dower does act as a bar for the husbands to refrain from divorcing their
wives; evidence shows there are less cases of talaq than khula. This seems to indicate also that
not many talaq cases go to court because men just talaq their wives and the wives do not see any
point in challenging this unfettered and unilateral right of their husbands.
Concluding Remarks:
Under the Muslim Law, dower is an important part of marriage. The custom of giving dower was
come from Pre-Islamic time. The Quran and Sunna say that, dower must be given at the time of
marriage and the statutes of Bangladesh also confirm it. The dower is given in two ways; one is
prompt and other is deferred. The prompt dower is given when the wife claimed it and the
deferred dower is given when the marriage is dissolved by divorce or after the death of
husbands. If any person denies giving this dower money to his wife, then the law can force him
and the wife can decline to continue conjugal life. The cases on dower in Bangladesh highlight
the contrast between theory and practice. In dower cases, the payment is a legal obligation,
whereas in social practice the question of payment arises only at the instance of divorce. In this
thesis attention has been given on who can make contract for the dower money at the time of
marriage, and when, and how the dower money will be paid to the wife. If someone denies
paying dower money then the wife can claim it under the law and within a limitation period. In
the present thesis I have discussed the problems facing by women in recovering the dower
money in practice and finally I have tried to give necessary solutions for ensuring womens right
of dower from the male dominated society. The amount of dower is not only a check for
unreasonable exercise of talaq but also the only financial security the women might have after
the dissolution of her marriage, so they should not be deprived from getting it.
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Bibliography
BOOKS
1. Aqil Ahmed, Mohammedan Law, 21st ed. (Allahabad: Central law Agency, 2004).
2. Syed Ameer Ali, Mohammadan Law, 6th ed. (Dhaka: Shams Publication, 2002).
3. Obaidul Huq Chowdhury, Muslim Law, 6th ed. (Dhaka: Al-Yakub Press, 2005).
4. Muhammed Faiz-ud-din, Islamic Law, 1st ed. (Dhaka: Shams Publication,1998).
5. Syed Khalid Rashid, Muslim Law, 3rd ed. (Lucknow: Eastern Book Company, 2002).
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