Back to search

Does the wife deserve the deferred dowry if her husband abandons her without divorcing her?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The entire Mahr (dowry) is the right of the wife, and it must be paid to her if it was deferred. She has the right to demand it at any time, provided the husband is able to pay, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The procrastination [in paying a debt] by a wealthy person is an injustice." This is unless custom dictates that it be paid upon divorce, in which case it becomes due after the divorce, because what is known by custom is like what is stipulated by condition. In this situation, the wife does not have the right to demand it before the divorce.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy