The Mahr Does Not Specify Prompt or Deferred: In Mahr al-Mithl, Is the Prompt or the Deferred Part Considered?

Question

A certain man, Zayd, lived with a woman named Khayran from 1925 to 1964. During this time nine sons and four daughters were born to him from the said woman; of them seven sons and three daughters, as well as the said woman herself, are alive. In 1925 Zayd’s father, after learning of these events, announced that if Zayd contracted nikah with Khayran, he should consider himself disowned, otherwise (?) Zayd would receive no share from the family.

Answer

If the offer and acceptance (ijab and qabul) of the nikah took place in accordance with the Shari‘a, and there was no specification in it of whether the mahr is prompt or deferred, this has no effect on the nikah: the nikah is valid. (2) Children born before the offer and acceptance do not have established lineage (thabit al-nasab).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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