Editing Mahr (section)

==Structure of mahr==
A mahr is part of many Muslim marriage contracts. The mahr may be separated into two parts. First, there is the ''muqaddam'', or the prompt mahr, which the wife must receive at or immediately after the marriage ceremony. The second part of the mahr, called the ''mu'akhar'', is a deferred and promised amount, payable at any agreed upon date following the consummation of the marriage. Often the deferred amount is larger than the amount paid at marriage. In theory, the deferred amount is supposed to provide the wife with a means of support, and is associated with the death or divorce of the husband, however this is a more traditional rather than Islamic stance on the matter. The ''mu'akhar'' should be viewed as importantly as the initial dower payment as it is an obligation to be fulfilled by the husband and is considered debt if it is not given to the wife within the timeframe agreed upon between the couple.<ref>Tracie Rogalin Siddiqui, Interpretation of Islamic Marriage Contracts by American Courts, 41 FAM. L.Q. 639, 639 (2007)</ref>

The mahr in any Islamic marriage contract is a fundamental religious right of the wife, and the husband may not reduce the mahr. Even upon the husband's death, the deferred mahr is paid from his estate before all other debts, because it is a religious requirement.

According to a hadith, the Muslim Prophet [[Muhammad]] stated the mahr should be "one gold piece",<ref name=WahhabiIslam>{{cite book
 | last = DeLong-Bas
 | first = Natana J.
 | title = Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad
 | url = https://archive.org/details/wahhabiislamfrom0000delo
 | url-access = registration
 | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]], USA
 | year = 2004
 | location = New York
 | page = [https://archive.org/details/wahhabiislamfrom0000delo/page/159 159]
 | edition=First
 | isbn = 978-0-19-516991-1}}</ref> but the mahr amount is often negotiated between the parents or guardians of the bride and groom (also called ''[[wali]]''), and the parties often draft mahr agreements by filling in the blanks of form contracts that employ standard boilerplate terms. The typical mahr containing marriage contract consists of the names of the parties, the amount of the mahr, a cleric's signature, the signature of two male witnesses, and a disclaimer that Islamic law will govern the marriage contract.<ref name="Lindsey E. Blenkhorn 2002"/>  In Islamic marriages, assets brought into the union by the wife may only be accepted by the husband after the mahr has been paid by him to her.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

In Arabian world, there are varying interpretations of ''mahr'' containing marriage contracts, highlighting the differences between Maliki, Hanbali, Hanafi, Shafi, and Jafari [[Madhhab|schools of Islamic jurisprudence]].<ref name="Lindsey E. Blenkhorn 2002"/> For example, the Hanafi School holds that if the woman initiates the divorce ([[Khul'|khulʿ]]) she cannot receive her mahr regardless of whether the husband is or is not at fault, while the Maliki School holds that when the husband is at fault for the divorce, the wife does not forfeit her right to the mahr even if she initiates the divorce. The schools also differ over the requisite number of witnesses to the contract. The Hanafi School requires two witnesses on the document for a mahr containing contract to be valid, while the Maliki School holds that witnesses are only needed at marriage's publication but not the document.<ref>Mona Rafeeq, Rethinking Islamic Law Arbitration Tribunals: Are They Compatible with Traditional American Notions of Justice?, 28 WIS. INT‟L Law Journal, 108, 138–39 (2010)</ref>