Should the Bride and Groom Inform Witnesses That Mahr Was Paid?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

After the husband has paid mahr to his wife, should they inform the elders or the witnesses during nikah that this obligation has been fulfilled to prevent the wife from lying later while divorce that mahr has not been paid? Is there a legal ruling requiring the couple to announce that mahr has been paid?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

No. There is no legal ruling that spouses must announce that the dowry has been paid nor for the payment to be witnessed.

However, the general encouragement to have any monetary transaction witnessed and written can also apply to the giving of the dowry. Quran chapter 2, verse 282, expresses the importance of committing debt contracts (the dowry is considered a debt once the marriage contract is in effect).

Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.