What happens if a mahr beyond the husband’s means could not be paid

Question

(1) Some people, out of vanity and in keeping with their verbal custom, and some out of fear that the girl may be divorced, have the girl’s mahr fixed far above the husband’s means, although the husband’s means do not allow him to pay even fifty rupees, and he is pressed for five hundred or five thousand. In his pursuit (of the marriage) the husband finds himself forced to agree to the demanded mahr and takes this unbearable burden upon himself.

Answer

(1) It is obvious that fixing a large mahr out of vanity is not approved by the Shari‘a; fixing a large mahr has been censured in the noble hadith. If, however, someone out of necessity contracted the nikah with a large mahr (the nikah would not take place with a small mahr)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.