What is the dower owed when a man simultaneously contracts marriage with two women, one of whom is legally ineligible for marriage to him?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Dowry (Mahr)
Primary text
If a man marries two women using a single dower amount (*mahr*), and one of the marriages is void due to a prohibitive reason, the validly married woman is entitled to a dower equivalent to her share (*hissah*) of the total stipulated dower. This view is held by Al-Shafi'i (on one opinion) and Abu Yusuf. The reasoning is based on the principle that the contract involved two objects, one of which was impermissible to contract upon, thus mandating that the dower for the permissible contract be determined by its due share, analogous to a sale involving a slave and an enslaved mother (*umm walad*).
Supporting text
Abu Hanifa maintains that the entire stipulated dower belongs to the woman whose marriage is valid. This is because the void contract incurs no legal effect whatsoever, effectively rendering the situation as if he had married her alone with the stipulated dower, unlike the case of the forbidden co-contracted object.