Dower; when is it valid to give it up?
In a decree issued in 2024 by Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada, leader of the Islamic Emirate, on “preventing improper customs in society,” article 1, paragraph 6 emphasizes respecting women’s right to dower (mahr). The decree says that setting an excessively high dower is not proper and that dower is a woman’s right, which no one else has the right to take. It also describes excessively high and burdensome dower as one of the undesirable customs related to marriage.
