What is the religious ruling on a marriage in which there was an agreement on a dowry and furnishing an apartment, and a down payment of the dowry was made, then there was procrastination in furnishing the apartment, and the wife traveled to her husband without her family's knowledge? Is the marriage religiously valid, and is the husband entitled to reclaim the portion of the dowry that was paid?

A wife traveling to her husband without a mahram is a reprehensible and forbidden act. Her haste in entering into the marriage without announcing the wedding is an error and a harm to her family. Since the husband has consummated the marriage with her, her mahr (dowry) is fully due to her. It is not permissible for the husband to delay any part of it or to take back what he has given her, unless she willingly relinquishes it. The withdrawal of the wife's family from the agreement does not justify the husband reclaiming the mahr or withholding the remaining part of it from her. Rather, he is obligated to pay it and provide suitable housing for her. The husband must fear Allah and fulfill his wife's rights, for Allah the Almighty says: "And if you wish to replace a wife in place of another, and you have given one of them a qintar (a large amount of wealth), do not take anything back from it. Would you take it in falsehood and manifest sin? And how could you take it while you have gone in unto each other and they have taken from you a strong covenant?" If the wife's family has taken possession of the mahr, they must hand it over to her unless she willingly relinquishes it.