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Dowýy'in Pre-Islamic Arabia
Arabs considered dowry a sine qua non for the validity of a
marriage contract. If such a requirement was not met. they
considered the marriage to be adultery or fornication.
1
ýMost
Arabs had considered a dowry to be a token of a woman's nobility.
The dowry was paid by the husband. Originally. it was intended to
be for the woman herself to spend on her needs for the marriage
home. However, her guardian sometimes took the wholeAlawry for
himself in which case. it was called a daughter's Uiluian.
Alternatively. the guardian might give some to the woman and keep
the rest. That part which he kept was called the UiliW-a-n or
Al-nafijah and they used to congratulate one another saying "May
Allah bless your nafijah". Smith rightly explained that the dowry
is paid by the husband to the bride's kin and indeed, the
lexicographers. in explaining the odd formula 'hanian laka al
naf1jah' used to congratulate a father on the birth of a daughter.
in the times before Islam, say that the daughter was welcomed as
an addition to her father's wealth. because when he gave her in
marriage, he would be able to add to his flocks the camels paid to
him as her mah, r.
Although this suggest that a father needed to be consoled in this
way for the birth of a daughter. it also shows the importance placed
on receiving and enjoying a dowry. However. there were some kinds
of marriage in which there was no dowry at all. An example of
such marriages is the ShiCar marriage. which had no dowry because
as explained earlier, it was an exchange marriage.
1*
*Ali.
2, Ibid
op. cit. Vol. 5, P. 525
3. See Smith. op. cit.. P. 96
,
2
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