After a Substitute for the Mahr Is Given, the Wife’s Claim Ends

Question

Nur Khan, for some reason, divorced his wife Naziran in accordance with the Shari‘a six years ago in the presence of five men of the biradari (kinship group), and the mahr was thirty-two and a half rupees. Instead of thirty-two rupees he gave silver jewellery weighing 85 ratti (a small unit of weight) in payment of the mahr. Now, after six years, she has filed a suit against me in court to have maintenance fixed. I request you, gentlemen: am I obliged by the Shari‘a to pay maintenance or not?

Answer

Since you gave eighty-five (85) ratti of silver jewellery in exchange for the mahr and she accepted it, you have been freed of the liability. Now bringing a claim against you is wrong; nothing is binding on you. The minimum amount of mahr is ten dirhams, which is approximately two and three-quarter tolas (a unit of weight).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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