Dowry: A socially endorsed form of

violence in Pakistan

Submitted by:
Mahjabeen
Marvi(13071)

Bushra Masood Khan(

 Hanzala
ahmed(11717)

Amra Irfan(

Shazaib Ahmed(

What is Dowry?
A dowry is money, property, or goods that a woman brings as a gift to her
husband upon marriage. The practice of using a dowry, also known as
trousseau, is a custom that has been around for centuries and was most
commonly practiced in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Modern times have seen this
practice fall by the wayside because of abuse suffered by women as a result
of misuse of the practice.

Historic evolution
Dowry is an ancient custom, and its existence may well predate its records.
Historically, dowry was a way of providing a woman with a portion of her
familys wealth, which she would not otherwise be entitled to through
inheritance. It was believed to be the best way to protect a woman from
suffering abuse or ill treatment by her husband. The use of a dowry was
combined with a bride price, or rather an amount of money or property the
groom would pay to the brides family in exchange for her marriage to him.
Dowry first came from upper-class families as the wedding gifts from the
brides family to her to help her family or to the husband for his needs. Well
after this started, dowry evolved into a type of insurance that was offered
along with money for the wedding. The dowry became the property of the
husband, whereas the woman would inherit the dowry if she were widowed.
Conversely, should the woman die, the dowry, less the cost of the bride
price, would be inherited by her natural born children.

Evidence from India, however, indicates that the positive effects of dowry for
wives have more than diminished. Once considered a beneficent and even
spiritual act observed only by the wealthiest and holiest castes (with the
lower castes practicing the more pragmatic tradition of bride price, involving
compensation by the grooms family to the brides family for the loss of
human capital), the dowry system today often functions more as a
commercial transaction and has been resolutely embraced by the middle and
lower classes.

In the past, if a woman died without sons, her husband had to refund the
dowry but could deduct the value of the bride price.

In many ancient cultures, the practice of bride price began to wane, and a
transformation to the custom of dowry occurred as these civilizations grew
and flourished. In present times, this pattern is reflected in a comparison
between dowry-paying India, where the caste system represents perhaps an
extreme example of social stratification, and the more homogeneous tribal
societies of sub-Saharan Africa that practice bride price.

The high incidence of dowry related violence in Pakistan is generally traced

to the cultural influence of Hindu rituals. Dowry and violence against women
in South Asia is a South Asian issue, which requires solutions from within
specific societies, not magically imported remedies from somewhere abroad

A dowry (also known as trousseau or tocher or, in Latin, dos) is the

money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage.
It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and
dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the
time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both
dowry and bride price. Dowry is an ancient custom, and its existence may
well predate records of it. Wikipedia.

Dowry Death
Dowry deaths are the deaths of young women who are murdered or driven
to suicide by continuous harassment and torture by husbands and in-laws in
an effort to extort an increased dowry. Dowry deaths are reported in various
South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Dowry death
is considered one of the many categories of violence against women in South
Asia. According to Indian National Crime Record Bureau, there were 1948
convictions and 3876 acquittals in dowry death cases in year 2008, and if we
look at the situation in Pakistan it is has the highest reported rates of dowry-
related deaths per 100,000 women in the world.

Most dowry deaths occur when the young woman, unable to bear the
harassment and torture, commits suicide. Most of these suicides are by
hanging, poisoning or by fire. Sometimes the woman is killed by setting her
on fire; this is known as "bride burning", and sometimes disguised as suicide
or accident. According to Indian police, every year it receives over 2,500
reports of bride-burning, while human rights organizations in Pakistan report
over 300 deaths per year. The Indian National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
reports that there were about 8172 dowry death cases registered in India in
2008. Incidents of dowry deaths during the year 2008 (8172) have increased
by 14.4 per cent over 1998 level (7146).

The Dowry Prohibition Act, passed in India in 1961, prohibits the request,
payment or acceptance of a dowry, "as consideration for the marriage",
where "dowry" is defined as a gift demanded or given as a precondition for a
marriage. Gifts given without a precondition are not considered dowry, and
are legal. Asking or giving of dowry can be punished by an imprisonment of
up to six months, or a fine of up to Rs. 5000. It replaced several pieces of
anti-dowry legislation that had been enacted by various Indian states.

Indian women's rights activists campaigned for more than 40 years to

contain dowry deaths, such as the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 and the more
stringent Section 498a of IPC (enacted in 1983). Using the Protection of
Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 (PWDVA) implemented in 2006, a
woman can put a stop to the dowry harassment by approaching a domestic
violence protection officer. Due to demands by women's rights activists, the
Indian government has modified property inheritance laws and permitted
daughters to claim equal rights to their parental property. Some religious
groups have urged the people to curb the extravagant spending during the
marriages.

Dowry- a global issue

The fight to end dowry deaths in India and other countries has not been
confined to these nations' borders. Reports of these incidents have attracted
a great deal of public interest and have sparked a global activist movement
seeking to end the practice. Of this activist community, the United
Nations (UN) has played a pivotal role in ending not only dowry deaths, but
violence against women as a whole.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), though predominately focused

on improving the quality of education available to children globally, has also
taken a proactive stance against dowry death. On March 9 (International
Women's Day), at a press conference in Washington D.C., UNICEF's Executive
Director, Ann M. Veneman, publicly condemned dowry deaths and the
legislative systems which allow the culprits to go unpunished. In 2009
UNICEF launched its first Strategic Priority Action Plan for Gender Equality,
which was followed by a second Action Plan in 2010. The aim of these plans
has been to make gender equality a higher priority within all international
UNICEF programs and functions.

Practice of Dowry in Pakistan

Estimating the incidence of domestic violence against women in Pakistan
range between seventy to ninety per cent of the total female population.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the extreme
form it takes includes driving a woman to suicide or engineering an accident
through the infamous stove-burning - usually when the husband, often in
collaboration with his side of the family, feels (or is made to believe) that the
dowry or other gifts he had expected from his in-laws were not forthcoming
or/and he wanted to marry again or he expected an inheritance from the
death of his wife. During 1997, the Lahore press reported an average

of more than four local cases of women being burnt weekly, three of the four
fatally. Police follow-up on these cases was negligible, with only six suspects
taken into custody out of 215 cases reported in Lahore newspapers during
the year. In 1997, there was not a single conviction in a stove-death case
in the country. It remains a mystery for social science researchers as to why
stoves burst in susrals (marital homes) only and why the victim is always a
bahu (daughter in law).

In Pakistan, in spite of very high frequency of domestic violence and frequent

cases of stove deaths, dowry related violence is neither perceived nor
recognized as an accepted form of violence nor documented in social science
literature

There are certain factors that ensure the continuity of the practice
of dowry, such as:

It is considered an incentive to lure a more suitable match.

It is submission to the demand of a perceived suitable match.

 It is used as an excuse for denial of inheritance to women (the
expenses on dowry and wedding are unilaterally decided by the men of the
family as transfer of inheritance by other means).

It is considered a good support mechanism to help the new couple so

that they get a convenient start in practical life.

It has become a socially enforced practice that is followed and

executed with a smile; Not withstanding how painful it could be to the
family.

Obligatory jahez takes a heavy toll on the family of the bride.

The actors in dowry violence are men and women who are participants in
local, regional or national cultures, in religious and social-traditional and yet
current and contemporary normative orders that are in the process of being
constantly tested and modified.

The current situation in Pakistan

Dowry deaths have been rising in Pakistan for decades. Over 95% of
marriages in every region of Pakistan involve transfer of a dowry from the
bride's family to a groom's family.

There is some controversy on the dowry death rates in Pakistan. Some

publications suggest Pakistan officials do not record dowry deaths; the death
rates are culturally under-reported and may be significantly higher. For
example, Nasrullah reports total average annual stove burn rates of 33 per
100,000 women in Pakistan, of which 49% were intentional, or an average
annual rate of about 16 per 100,000 women.

Pakistan passed Dowry and Marriage Gifts (Restriction) Bill in 2008,

unanimously. The bill restricts dowry to PKR 30,000 (~US$ 300) while the
total value of bridal gifts should not exceed PKR 50,000. The law made dowry
demands by groom's family illegal, as well as public display of dowry before
or during the wedding as illegal. However, this and similar anti-dowry laws of
1967, 1976 and 1998, as well as Family Court Act of 1964 have proven to be
unenforceable in Pakistan. Activists such as SACHET, Pakistan claim the
police refuse to register and prosecute allegations of dowry-related domestic
violence and fatal injuries.

Various military and democratically elected civil governments in Pakistan

have tried to outlaw traditional display of dowry and expensive parties
(walima). One such attempt was the Act of 1997, Ordinance (XV) of 1998 and
the Ordinance (III) of 1999. These were challenged in the Supreme Court of
Pakistan. The petitioner cited a number of hadiths under religious Sharia laws
to demonstrate that Islam encouraged walima and related customary
practices. Pakistan government's efforts to enact these laws are against the
injunctions of Islam, claimed the petitioner. The Supreme Court of Pakistan,
ruled these laws and ordinances as unconstitutional.

Dowry a Socio cultural perspective

By Dr. Rakhshinda Parveen

What is dowry? Encyclopedias, thesaurus and dictionaries have explained

it beautifully and simplistically. To me it is a form of culturally sanctioned and
socially acceptable violence not only against women but men too. Despite
relatively uninformed and unprepared acceptance of globalization as a way
of life, it appears rather strange that the institution of marriage is still intact
in Pakistan. Marriage is an important event in the life of a Pakistani woman.
Getting married early is being lucky.

Obligatory Jahez takes a heavy toll on the family of dulhan - the bride.
Dowry is a multi-faceted deep-rooted gender issue with social, economic and
health consequences. In spite of a consensus on disliking the practice, only a
few have the courage to disown it. According to renowned Indian writer Shri
Sharma the evolution of dowry is originally from a gift creating expectation
leading to demands and greed. A large dowry can be an important attribute
of status to both men and women. Dowry, which is popularly considered as a
Hindu custom, has visibly migrated, escalated and embraced in all the areas
of the present day Pakistan. It has become an active tradition, norm and
religious practice for those who believe that there is an absence of such
custom and tradition in their faith. The implication of this convenient
forgetfulness is inattentiveness to dowry-related violence.

HRCP reported only one case of dowry-related violence in 2001.In that case
the victim was burnt to death by her in-laws for not bringing sufficient dowry.
A research study conducted by sachet (a CSO) on gender-based violence as
reported in the print media also confirmed this statistic. Does this mean that
in reality also, only one woman fell victim to dowry death? I sent one of our
research officers to find some clues. Here is her back-to-office report.

I met Ms.Naheeda Mahboob Illahi, advocate Supreme Court on 9th

Jan`2002. According to her, everyday a large number of cases of
 dowry-related violence are received but are mostly registered as
Domestic Disputes. The details of only three cases of dowry-related
violence were provided-2 cases in the year 2000 and one in 1997. In all
these cases the victims were tortured mentally and physically by their
husbands and in-laws, for not bringing sufficient dowry with them.

Unfortunately it is not a popular theme or priority agenda item for

organizations working on women issues. There could be three possible
reasons for this convenient forgetfulness. One is the spiral of silence and
sharam, which implies that woman, related issues must not be taken out of
the premises of home for the sake of honor. Second is the ironical fact that
attention to the role of dowry in our marriage system has not gained
deserved attention of international donors. Therefore, the hype stirred by
comparable social problems like child labor or environment overshadowed a
traditional area like dowry and related issues. Thirdly, the Ministry of women
development in Pakistan has yet to acknowledge dowry and dowry-violence
as gender issues.

Interventions in PAKISTAN: Efforts made by mushrooming CSO sector in

connection with dowry can be summed up as Disappointing.

There had been localized and limited efforts by small-scale welfare societies
in the 1960s and 1970s aiming at awareness rising and motivation
campaigns to convince people at the mohalla level to resist the mindless
following of dowry demands. However, with the advent of international
donors in the 1980s, the CSOs in Pakistan have either undertook campaigns
against other more visibly anti-women oppressive mechanisms like hudood
ordinance or political marginalization under the Zia regime. Later too, the
CSOs have taken up issues of expressed violence thus being symptomatic
and not delving into the deep rooted causes of violence against women,
dowry being one primary cause.

Taking notice of the visible exclusion of dowry as a gender issue from the
agenda and aims of development CSOs and self-acclaimed gender experts, I
initiated fight against dowry (fad) through the platform of SACHET, which I co
founded nearly five years back. FAD has been shaped into a project in
Jan`02.The main objective of this project, rather a movement is to Eradicate
(institution and practice of) Dowry in Pakistan. The key strategies to achieve
this aim are research and communication. The activity spectrum ranges from
surveys, signature campaigns, e-petitions, youth-parent consultations, legal
advice, and amendments in the existing law, lobbying, TV programs to
anything possible under the sun.

The Government of Mr. Nawaz Sharif in mid-1990s had introduced an

ordinance banning grand wedding receptions (an implicit upshot of dowry).
However, it was enforced for short time only, but is now losing its spirit. Right
now, commission of Law and Justice, has drafted a new law in connection
with wedding expenses and dowry. The consultation on the draft version is in
progress.

Challenges
How dowry could be made a high priority agenda to create a critical
mass to combat this institutional violence?

Are we ready to adopt this extremely critical gender issue as a

passion?

Is our mass media mature enough to advocate and sensitize all

stakeholders?

Do we have any political commitment in this regard and how far our
governments are ready to go in this respect?

'Honor' killings, dowry deaths (The

Nation)

ISLAMABAD The country is going to mark March 8 (today) as International

Womens Day but it is really pathetic that 9,670 women have been killed only
in Punjab for honor killings and property disputes for the last five years.
A recent report by Human Rights Commission on the eve of International
Womens Day, Sunday, carries some horrific statistics about women rights
violations throughout Pakistan. Out of 9,670 women, immediate relatives
including husbands, brothers, fathers and others killed 1,638 ladies. About
8,041 women were killed due to property and other such issues. About 3,379
women were killed for not bringing dowry with them and asking for their
rights.
They were either killed by setting them on fire or by acid throwing, while
hundreds of women who are facing Karokari, other such honor killings and
infamous Hudood Ordinance charges in the jails of the country are still to be
heard, Press United to Serve Humanity (PUSH), a Pakistan-based non-profit,
non-governmental and non-sectarian consortium of journalists working for
freedom of Press and protection of human rights, has quoted in the Human
Rights Commission Report in a statement.
March 8 is designated to celebrate the economic, social and political
achievements of women throughout the world. The day is celebrated the
world over including Pakistan vowing to strive for the protection of women
rights and applaud womens efforts and achievements in this regards.
Though the Government of Pakistan has taken some steps to ameliorate the
status of women and protect their rights, the physical and sexual violence,
honor killings, forced marriages and structural inequalities are abundant in
Pakistan, PUSH stated. The NGO has demanded the implementation of laws
for protection of women rights in letter and spirit. In a statement issued here,
PUSH said that despite claims discrimination against women was still
underway to haunt the fair sex.
Although Pakistani women tried hard for the passage of Women Protection
Bill from the National Assembly recently and they succeeded to some extent,
yet opposition from some religious quarters is creating hurdles in the way of
its implementation. PUSH Pakistan salutes women for their struggle to attain
their rights and demands of the Government to come up with practical
measures for their protection.

Bride Burning in Pakistan

In Pakistan the Progressive Women's Association say that "three-hundred

Pakistani women are burned to death each year by their husband's families"
and that bride-burning incidents are sometimes disguised as accidents such
as an 'exploding stove', the husband then gets a tattoo of a tear drop on his
face. According to the Association, Doctors say that victims presenting from
these accidents have injuries inconsistent with stove burns. According to an
Amnesty International report in 1999, although 1,600 bride-burning incidents
were reported, sixty were prosecuted but only two resulted in convictions.

In Pakistan, women, including Shahnaz Bukhari, have been campaigning for

protective legislation, womens shelters and hospitals with specialized burn
wards. Amnesty International say that although the government of Pakistan
has rejected any legal prohibition against dowry and "honor" killings, there
are indications that pressure from within, as well as from international
human rights groups may be increasing the level of awareness within the
Pakistani government.

Dowry or Jahaiz Culture in our Society

By Sakina younas

It has been quite some time since I heard about a particular wedding
scandal. Nevertheless, it was atrocious to say the least and has stuck in my
mind ever since. It was an Indian wedding and the groom went with his
father-in-law to inspect the dowry. It was quite a big room; chock full of
valuables ranging from a TV, refrigerator, and bike to clothes, jewellery and
so forth.
The verdict: There should have been a car as well!

The distraught father pleaded that he had nothing more left, but to no avail.
The guy threatened to walk off if he wasnt promised a car. In desperation,
the father complied. As it were, the daughter found out about the deal one
way or another and she refused to be tied up with a greedy pig for the rest of
her life!

I remember thinking how brave the girl was but I also recall the misery of her
father. It just filled me with gratitude for living somewhere where brides were
not subjected to such a materialistic weighing down. Its hilarious how totally
off the mark my judgment was.

A few years ago, my sister was invited by her colleague to her daughters
wedding. The cards were sent out and her wedding dress, jewelry, trousseau,
hall bookings, and salon appointments-everything was ready.

There was barely more than a fortnight left when all of a sudden everything
was cancelled. No one could have imagined the cards would be played out
like this and it was flabbergasting to say the least.

We found out the reason eventually. The guy and his family had come to visit
and the topic of inheritance was brought up. The father of the bride
mentioned that there was a piece of land that would be transferred in his
daughters name and a few other things which would be jointly owned by the
couple. The guy said that the property should be transferred to his name
instead, to which the father responded that this was his daughters
inheritance, just like all his children had been bequeathed-not a wedding gift.
The property would remain in his daughters name. The guy insisted that
what belonged to his wife would come to him anyways so it should go
straight to his name. He remained adamant on this point and was backed by
his parents. Fearing the consequences of their non-compliance, the brides
parents gave in.

The daughter was furious at the pressure put on her parents. She spoke to
her fiance again, but he refused point-blank to have the property in her
name. Even joint ownership was not palatable to him. The papers had to be
drawn up under his name alone.

My sister was a friend of the brides mother and this is the only reason why
she got to know the truth. Even though they had not done anything wrong,
their daughters interests were at stake and there was no point in airing dirty
laundry.

Even though the dowry system does have a weak standing in our society, its
believers practice it with rigidity. Only a few days back, a friend was telling
me about her cousins wedding preparations. There was talk of 70 heavily
embroidered suits, numerous jewelry sets, miscellaneous household items
and to top it all of-a fully carved and crafted master bed. I just gaped at her.
She assured me that her cousin was an only daughter and had hitherto spent
life with a silver spoon in her mouth. This mountain of gifts was bestowed
with blessed free will, but it would be nonsensical to pretend that this is
always the case.

Irfan Mirza while commenting at Pakistaniat.com has following opinion on

this willing act of bridal gifts as Jahaiz:

There is no harm in dowry as it is a gift by the parents of the bride. But if a

demand list is produced by the bridegroom side than the marriage must not
be commenced at all. The marriage must only take place if the bridegroom is
contented to accept the girl with or without dowry.

This reflection hits the nail right on the head. I have a friend whose parents
gifted her husband a car. One of my fathers cousins got an apartment from
her father. Willingly given; gratefully accepted-nothing wrong with that. Alas,
this simple tradition has been distorted into: If not willingly given; then
forcefully taken.

The practice of dowry among ignorant Muslims is a result of the influence of

the evil practices of the society they live in. Islam does not put any financial
burden on the father of the girl. A Muslim father is told to get his daughter
married away in a most simple Nikah ceremony solemnized by a Qazi
(priest) in a mosque, witnessed by his close relatives and friends. He is not
even required to throw a luncheon to the handful of invitees assembled for
this occasion. [Source]

I have a married sister and thankfully, the jahaiz system isnt perpetuated in
our stratum, but it is deeply rooted in others. Those poor girls want to do
away with all these shenanigans too, but it is easier to look from afar and
say, doesnt matter what your community thinks; stand up for yourself.
Whatever the right thing may be; social standing matters a great deal. There
are few amongst us so stouthearted, that they dare to openly defy the whole
society and risk communal ostracism. People will not burst into applause like
in the movies. If not their scorn, their coldness will break your spirit.

We need not look further than our beloved Rasul-ul-Allah (S.A.W) to get a fair
idea of the requirements of a brides dowry. He got his daughters married in
the simplest possible manner. I will conclude my article with following
narration by Ibn e Hibbaan:

The best of marriage is that which is made easiest

A STUDY OF DOWRY AND MARRIAGE

ARRANGEMENTS IN A RURAL AREA OF
DISTRICT FAISALABAD
Tabinda Anjum, 'Niaz Hussain Malik & 'Saeed Ahmad Khan
Department of Rural Sociology & 'Department of Agri. Education,
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad

Dowry has become an essential part of marriage practices in

Pakistan. With the passage of time, it has become a curse,
particularly for the low socio-economic part of the society. This
situation necessitates thorough probing and systematic research
to assess the gravity of the problem. The study was conducted on
a sample of 150 married rural women in the village 66/G.B.
situated on Jaranwalaroad, district Faisalabad. Data were collected
with the help of an interview schedule. It was revealed that in
majority of the cases, the marriages were held with their first
cousins and the dowry was expected by in-laws in some form or
the other. It was further found that the value of the dowry was
non-significantly related with marital adjustment.

INTRODUCTION
Family is one of those social institutions which are accepted by individuals
due to long established traditions. A family unit cannot come into existence
without the institution of marriage, since the institutions of family and
marriage are interdependent. Marriage in Islam is not a private and personal
affair of an individual or between the two individuals, but is a matter of
concern for the society to which they belong. The marriage under such a
situation needs social recognition and hence the display of pomp and show in
various forms and ceremonies is observed in which dowry is considered to be
the most important one. The literal meaning of the word dowry is "the
money, goods or estate which a woman brings to her husband in marriage"
(Webster, 1979). The basic idea behind the dowry system has been to
provide some financial assistance to the married couple in terms of clothing,
utensils, furniture, etc. to enable them to start an independent life. In many
societies, the daughters are generally deprived of the landed property of
their parents, thus dowry is considered a sort of compensation for that
deprivation. But with the passage of time, the dowry has become an
unbearable burden for the parents particularly for those who have poor
economic conditions. However, in this society, dowry is considered as a key
to the future marital adjustment. If the parents of the bride belong to higher
social class, the amount of dowry given acts as a symbol of pride and respect
for them. Therefore, they spend lavishly on dowry. However, due to this
trend, sometimes poor girls do not get married simply because their parents
fail to fulfill the requirements of dowry. In a society like ours a common man
has low income; dowry therefore becomes a big problem for him to get her
daughters married. Ismail (1991) observed that the undesirable practice of
dowry has created a very painful situation especially for the middle class
families. The helplessness of poor and middle class parents is awfully on the
rise. Islam does not like the prevalent dowry system. The Prophet
Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) married his daughter Fatima (R.T.A.) in a
very simple manner. Instead of dowry, there is a concept Of "Dower" or
"Mehr". Nevertheless, inspite of its non-requirement in law and being against
religious teachings, dowry has become one of the most unwanted yet
important customs of our society. Keeping the said aspect in view, the study
was undertaken to get an insight into dowry and marriage arrangements in a
rural area of Faisalabad district.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was conducted in the village 66/G.B. situated on Faisalabad-
Jaranwala road, 25 kilometers away from Faisalabad city. One hundred and
fifty married women, aged 20-40 years, were the respondents. They were
selected by simple random method. Data were collected with the help of an
interview schedule by the researcher herself. The data so collected were
statistically analyzed and interpreted.
Distribution of respondents with regard to
Their relation with husbands (before marriage)
Responses Number Percent
st
1 cousin 81 54
2nd cousin 21 14
Same Cast 48 32
Total 150 100

The above table indicates that more than half of the respondents (54 %)
were married with their 1st cousins. while 32% had been married with 2nd
cousins. Brown (1952) reported a high degree of marriages within kin groups.
He found that of 107 marriages in a Keatuchy mountain community, only 31
involved persons were
3rd or closer cousins.

Distribution of respondents according to the

Consideration of dowry as a substitute for land
Responses Number Percent
Yes 15 21.08
No 54 78.02
Has no Land 81 54
Total 150 100

This table indicates that of 150 respondents who had been given dowry, a
large majority (78.02%) did not consider, dowry as, a substitute for land,
whereas54.00% respondents parents had no land. However, 21.08 %
respondents considered dowry as a substitute of land and the parents had to
comply with this demand for the marriage of their daughters. Table 3 shows
that of 69 respondents who had been given land as a substitute for dowry, a
simple majority of 64.04 % was still undecided in this regard. Most of them
responded that as their brothers were still younger thus no decision seemed
possible in near future, while 36.02 % were the respondents who made no
such demand. However, the remaining 17.04 % respondents expressed that
their in-laws demanded dowry as a substitute for land.

Dowry: An Islamic Perspective

By: Mustika Rahmi
Among the conditions of marriage the question of dowry has been the
subject of consideration from various perspectives. Two basic types of dowry
have been practiced. The first type is that which is paid by the groom or his
family to the bride or her family. It normally consists of money, property, or
movable objects. Sometimes it is made up of gifts which are offered by the
groom's part and which may or may not be reciprocated by the bride side.
The second type is that which is rendered by the bride or her family to the
groom or his family. This was common in some ancient societies and is still
so in modern ones.

Dowry is used to designate that a Muslim groom gives to his prospective

bride. It is her personal property which she is empowered to waive, reduce to
her husband, or dispense with a she pleases. It is agreed by the Qur'an, the
Teaching of Muhammad (pbuh), and the consensus of Muslims. It may consist
of money, property, movable objects, or services rendered to the bride
herself. There was a tradition that a Companion of the Holy Prophet (pbuh)
wanted to marry certain woman but had nothing to offer her in dowry. The
Prophet (pbuh) asked him to teach her whatever he knew of the Qur'an, and
that sufficed as a dowry.

Another story is about Abu Talhah who proposed a woman who, in reply to
his proposal said, "A man of your stature is not to be rejected, but you are a
Disbeliever and I am a Muslim. It is unlawful for me to marry you. If you
embrace Islam, that will be my dowry and no more will I ask of you." Further,
he embraced Islam and that was her dowry. Similarly, in Islam if a master
wishes to marry his slave girl and offers her freedom as a dowry, both the
offer and the marriage are valid.

The position of Islam on dowry limitation is also substantial. The general

principle is that dowry should be estimated according to circumstances with
emphasis on moderation. The Prophet is reported to have said that most
blessed marriage is that which is least costly and most easy. Hence, the
great majority of Jurists set no minimum to dowry. There were cases during
Prophet (pbuh)'s lifetime and thereafter where dowry was as low as two
dirhams, or less than a dollar. This was acceptable even to leading
dignitaries and was regarded as a virtuous act. Moderation is recommended,
some Jurists preferred it to be within the limit of five hundred dirhams, nearly
one hundred and fifty dollars, which was the amount sometimes paid by the
Prophet himself or received by his daughters.
Regarding the dowry, Qur'an says, "But if you intend to replace a wife
by another and you have given one of them a Cantar (of gold i.e. a
great amount) as Mahr, take not the least bit of it back; would you
take it wrongfully without a right and (with) a manifest sin?" [An
Nisaa, 4: 20]

However, few years after Muhammad (pbuh)'s death, there are some
indications that women took advantage of this permissibility to an alarming
extent. Umar, the Caliph, was opposed to this tendency and spoke against it
in the mosque. He recommended that dowries be reduced to moderate
limits. A woman rose from the congregation and argued, "Commander of the
Believers! Why do you want to deny us a God-given right?" When she recited
the relevant Qur'anic verse (An Nisaa, 4: 20), Umar admitted that he was
mistaken and withdrew his recommendations.

So far no explanation has been found adequate to account for the dowry in
Islam. It seems fairly clear that dowry is a symbolic value, but what it
symbolizes may not be so obvious. Dowry is probably a symbolic expression
of the groom's cognizance of the economic responsibilities of marriage and
of his readiness to discharge all such responsibilities subsequent to marriage.
References

http://www.pro-pakistan.com/2009/11/21/dowry-or-jahaiz-culture-in-our-society/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_burning#In_Pakistan

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry

www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-dowry.htm

http://pakjas.com.pk/upload/90838.pdf

http://sachet.org.pk/home/gender_columns/webcolumn_27.asp

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/08-
Mar-2010/Honour-killings-dowry-deaths

http://www.brighthub.com/society/religion-spirituality/articles/103553.aspx