What is the ruling regarding the dower if the emancipated wife chooses dissolution before consummation?
Chapter on Marriage of Polytheists
Al-Mughni
Book of Marriage
Primary text
If she chooses dissolution before consummation, she has no dower. This is explicitly stated by Ahmad and is the position of Al-Shafi'i.
Supporting text
There is another narration from Ahmad stating that the master is due half the dower because it was obligated to the master and should not be voided by the act of another. Our rebuttal is that the separation came from her action, so her dower is nullified, similar to when a slave embraces Islam, commits apostasy, or nurses someone whose suckling voids her marriage. Regarding the claim that it was obligatory to the master, we state that it was through her agency, which is why half of it is dropped by her separation, and all of it by her acceptance of Islam or apostasy.