The ruling on intercourse before the mahr is paid

Question

(1) A married woman demands the prompt mahr (mu‘ajjal) from her husband, but the husband does not pay it. Does the woman now have a Shar‘i right not to let her husband have intercourse with her? (2) But the husband, by force — beating her, tying her up and pinning her down (?) — has intercourse. Is this intercourse permissible or impermissible? (3) If intercourse by force is permissible, then the aforementioned Shar‘i right of the woman is useless and void.

Answer

(1) She has the right. [ar]ولها منعه من الوطء والسفر بها ولو بعد وطء وخلوة رضيتها لأخذ ما بين تعجيله أو قدر ما يعجل بمثلها عرفًا إن لم يؤجل كله[/ar] “She may refuse him intercourse and travelling with her — even after intercourse and seclusion to which she consented — until she takes what was specified to be paid promptly, or the amount customarily paid promptly for a woman…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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