What Is Mahriyeh?
2024-02-24
Mahriyeh is property that the husband commits to paying his wife, at the time the marriage is concluded, as set out in the official marriage contract. The mahriyeh must be something that has financial value under Islamic law — for example, it can be cash, gold coins or gold, movable or immovable property, or even a specific task the husband undertakes to perform.
It should be noted that the mahriyeh must be entirely specific and definite, not ambiguous. For instance, it would not be valid for the husband to say he will give the wife "one of my houses," "one of my lands," or "three-sixths of a house I will buy in the future" as the mahriyeh. Once the marriage is concluded and registered in the marriage contract, the mahriyeh becomes a debt owed by the husband.
Other points about mahriyeh
The mahriyeh is recorded in the official marriage document, and one advantage of this is that the document becomes an enforceable instrument.
A key feature of an enforceable instrument is that it can be enforced through the marriage registry office by obtaining a writ of execution and applying to the deeds and properties enforcement office. This means the mahriyeh can be collected either through the registry office, without going to court, or by filing a civil lawsuit in family court.
To proceed through family court, the wife may, if she wishes, consult a lawyer and file her claim on the appropriate petition forms, requesting the mahriyeh through the court located either where her husband resides or where she herself resides; once the lawsuit is filed, the court orders the husband to pay the mahriyeh.
You should also know that mahriyeh can be either "on demand" (andolmotalebeh) or "subject to ability to pay" (andolestate). If the mahriyeh is on demand, the wife may claim it from her husband at any time she wishes, regardless of whether he has the financial means or not. But if the mahriyeh is subject to ability to pay, receiving it is conditional on the husband having the financial means — meaning that if the husband is unable to pay, the wife cannot claim it from him, and she may claim her mahriyeh whenever he becomes able to pay.