I am watching TV3 (Wanita Hari Ini) now and the topic seems interesting, "Hantaran Tinggi... Bahagiakah perkahwinan?" (High Dowry... Will The Marriage Be a Happy One?).
I have friends (including an ex-boyfriend) who are going to get married this year. Most of them, complain about HIGH DOWRY. Demands for high dowry.
I mean, seriously, what is the point in getting married with a high dowry? Question is, will the marriage last? In the Malay society, a dowry is necessary but then nowadays, as I noticed, people demand no less RM10,000. JUST FOR THE DOWRY ALONE.
Someone I know, his future wife demanded RM7,000 just for JEWELRY ALONE (Della, correct me if I am wrong). That girl's family demanded quite a lot on dowry. I have been watching this situation since he told Della and I about his problem with that girl. When they were dating, she was a good girl. When they got engaged, she showed her true colours. He was offered jobs outside Malaysia with a big pay and she told him NOT to go.
The reason why he wanted the job is because of their wedding. He needed money for their wedding. She told him NOT to go and yet HER family and she herself demands nothing less than RM10,000 in dowry and nothing less than RM5,000 for jewelry. How do you expect the poor guy to come up with the money?
Gosh. So. Let's talk about this here. Comment here. What are your views on HIGH DOWRY? Maybe, some marriage will be worth the high dowry but some? Would you think it is worth it? Argue. :)
Sounds like a question paper~! xD
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In case some of you who doesn't know the purpose of a dowry in Islam, read on here...
Islam has legislated the giving of the dower by the husband to the wife in order to make the woman’s heart pleased and to honor her. It is also meant to bring an end to what was done in the Days of Ignorance wherein she was wronged, exploited, despised and robbed of her wealth. The dower is a right exclusively for the wife. It is her possession and none of her guardians or relatives share any part of it. No one has any power over her concerning how she wishes to dispose of it, as long as she does so in a legally acceptable manner. She may give it away as a gift, she may lend it to others or she may give it in charity or do any other permissible acts she wishes with it.
The dower was instituted because the goal of marriage is not the actual act (of the marriage contract in) itself. In fact, the actual purpose of marriage cannot be achieved unless the spouses stay in a state of marriage. However, that may not be achieved unless the dower is an obligation at the time of the marriage contract itself. In this case, when there come times that may lead the man to divorce his wife, such as estrangement or coarse behavior, the husband would not be willing to divorce his wife due to just the slightest act of rudeness that occurs. If it were not for the dower that was required due to the contract itself, it would be very easy for him to leave her.
Therefore, the goals of marriage would not be met as the goals and benefits of marriage are only met when the two are in accord and agreement with one another but that accord will not come about unless the women is something honored and special to the husband. But such honor will not come about unless he had to give up something important to him. This is because what is most difficult to achieve is most special to the person. Therefore, if the wife is not something special in the eyes of the husband, then he will dispose of her at the first sign of unhappiness, the accord will not occur and the purposes of marriage will not be achieved.
What we see happening in some European countries – in fact, in some Muslim countries – is very strange indeed. This is where the woman is required to furnish a dowry or provide the furniture for their future house. This is definitely turning the natural order of things upside down and goes against the nature of mankind. It leads to a great deal of social ills and behavioral harm. It is a means by which the woman is despised and belittled. Indeed, she is ruined because of it. If the woman is not able to gather enough wealth together for marriage, she will not be able to get married and, instead, will have boyfriends and affairs and other evil results.
Such a practice contains a great deal of evil and harm for the society; this practice may even bring about society’s end soon. There is a great difference between the case where the woman feels that she and what she possesses belong to her husband and where she feels that she is something desired and honored, as the fiance spends money on her and gives her presents and so on to get her as his wife.
One regrettable aspect of dowry-giving in recent times is that it is becoming more and more a matter of ostentation. Nothing could be more un-Islamic in motivation than this. Even the practice of performing a marriage quietly, without any flamboyant display of wealth, but subsequently giving a lavish dowry to enable the bride to set up her home is contrary to Islamic practice. It was certainly not the 'Sunnah' of the Prophet. Fatimah was his favorite daughter, but he neither gave her a lavish dowry nor did he send things to her home after the wedding. Even when Fatimah made a request to him for something of a material nature, he only gave her the benefit of his counsel.
REFERENCE: Islam on Dowry
