Editing Mahr (section)

==References in Islamic texts==
The [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]'s entry on ''mahr'' states: "According to a tradition in [[Sahih al-Bukhari|Bukhari]], the mahr is an essential condition for the legality of the marriage: 'Every marriage without mahr is null and void'."<ref name="Houtsma1987">{{cite book|author=M. Th Houtsma|title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iJQ3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA137|access-date=7 June 2012|date=31 December 1987|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-08265-6|page=137}}</ref>

According to Islamic teachings in the [[hadith]] (sayings of Muhammad), ''mahr'' is the amount to be paid by the groom to the bride at the time of marriage, some of which may be delayed according to what is agreed upon by the spouses. The mahr is for her to spend as she wishes.<ref>{{cite book|first=Joseph |last=Schacht|author-link=Joseph Schacht|title= An Introduction to Islamic Law|edition= 2|location= New York|publisher= Oxford University Press|year= 1982| page= 167}}</ref> It can be cash, jewellery or any other valuable gift. In some cases, per [[Sahih al-Bukhari]] (Volume 7, Book 62, Number 72), even an iron ring can be mahr.<ref>[http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/062-sbt.php Shahih Bukhari] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013231550/http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/062-sbt.php |date=2012-10-13 }} University of Southern California, Hadith 7.62.72</ref>

Sura 4.4, 4.19, 4.20, 4.24, 60.10 and 60.11 of Qur'an require a groom to give a dower to a bride.<ref>Teipen, A. H. (2007). Submission and dissent: Some observations on children’s rights within the Islamic edifice’. The given child: The religions’ contribution to children’s citizenship, pages 51-70</ref><ref>[http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/004-qmt.php Qur'an] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501064500/http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/004-qmt.php |date=2015-05-01 }} University of Southern California, AN-NISA (WOMEN)</ref>

===Modern purposes===
In 2003, Rubya Mehdi published an article in which the culture of ''mahr'' among Muslims was thoroughly reviewed.<ref>{{cite journal
  | title = Danish law and the practice of mahr among Muslim Pakistanis in Denmark
  | journal = International Journal of the Sociology of Law
  | volume = 31
  | issue = 2
  | pages = 115–129
  | year = 2014
  | doi = 10.1016/j.ijsl.2003.02.002| author = Mehdi, R}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1390|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504021133/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1390|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 4, 2013|title=Mahr|publisher=oxfordislamicstudies.com}}</ref>

Mahr is a means of sustenance in case of a sudden death, divorce or other emergency.<ref>L-Moriscos - Page 137, M. Th. Houtsma</ref>