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Dowry Haram Or Halal According To Islam

Dowry or mehr is that amount which is the legal right of woman after the nikah is conducted. This amount is paid to the bride by the bridegroom himself. If we only talk about dowry i.e. mehr, then it is definitely halal and allowed and a must to be paid. But if we look at the recent trends where the meaning of dowry has been changed and it has been made something other than islam, then it is absolutely haram especially the demand of it by the bride side.


Let us see in detail what happens at the marriage. The girl’s parents are so pressed either by the in laws of the girls or by the society that they have to give their daughter dowry worth of hundreds of thousands of rupees along with jewelry and other things.

This is called jahez in the subcontinent. The curse of jahez has taken so many lives of the girls that they cannot be counted on finger tips. This curse does not end with marriage but remains with the girl’s side family forever. Once marriage is done now on every occasion girl and boy and the in laws has to be given gifts which should be of high quality. In order to keep their noses high, the parents sometimes compelled by the relatives and sometimes compelled by the society even take loans to fulfill such demands.

In some societies, the boy’s family is so pressed by the bride’s father or family that they even borrow money to pay for the girl. This is called bonnet money. What is the meaning of selling the girl? In islam this practice of selling girls is already haram. Girls are not commodities. They cannot be sold out without their will. But there are some cursed societies which receive this bonnet money in the name of dowry.

The concept and meaning of halal dowry has been distorted and changed into the haram act of pressuring and selling. There have been killed many boys and girls just because they could not meet such demands. So this filthy act has even invited deaths.

There is no place of haram dowry in islam, islam does not even press the bride to pay the money of mehr above the prescribed amount (today’s 10,000 rupees) since this money is to legalize the nikah and does not mean the girl is sold out. Similarly, the girl’s parents if can afford can give their daughter some household items but they should not follow the social norms as many of these norms are unislamic and sin.
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