Is it permissible for the dowry to be the sponsorship of an orphan, either through financial support or upbringing, and is this dowry better and greater than ordinary dowries?

Sponsoring an orphan is an act of worship with immense reward. It is permissible to make the dowry a sponsorship for an orphan in one of two ways: 1. The husband pays a known amount of money to an entity that undertakes the orphan's sponsorship. 2. The husband undertakes the orphan's sponsorship and care for a specified period. The permissibility of this is evidenced by the permissibility of khul' (divorce initiated by the wife) in exchange for sponsoring a child for a certain period, according to the majority of scholars.

As for this dowry being superior and greater than ordinary dowries, there is no evidence for that. Rather, scholars have stated that the best spending is that which has the most benefit.