Jurisprudential and Legal Approaches to Marriage and the Nature of Dowry from the Perspective of the five Religions Jurists

Dowry is one of the most challenging issues for Islamic jurists, including Shiites and Sunnis. In addition, legal views on marriage and dowry differ significantly. The present study seeks to investigate the nature of dowry from the perspective of the five religions jurists and its effect on marriage.

The method used in this research is descriptive-analytical, which has studied the nature of dowry among the five religions jurists by using jurisprudential sources, verses and narrations, as well as legal and jurisprudential books and articles.

Dowry has two aspects from the perspective of the five religions jurists; first, the legal aspect that considers dowry as a kind of exchange and gives it an economic aspect, and secondly, the approach that considers marriage as non-exchange and consequently dowry as a moral act and expresses a loving and interest-based approach in marriage.

Sunnis and religions derived from it are in favor of the exchange-oriented approach. The same approach is seen in some Shiite jurists. But Imami jurists often consider marriage and consequently the dowry as a category based on interest and morality, which is also reflected in legal approaches. Accordingly, dowry is not the only category among contracts and morality and interest cannot be separated from it.