The Mahr Calculator splits the mahr agreed in a marriage contract into the portion paid now (the prompt part, muqaddam) and the portion deferred (mu'akhkhar), keeping the currency exactly as you label it. Enter the total mahr, how much is paid at the time of the contract, and the currency, and it returns the deferred balance that remains the wife's due.
How It Works
The calculator validates that the amount paid now sits between zero and the total, and it performs no currency conversion: the split is recorded in whatever currency the parties agreed, which is how the contract itself will read.
Parameters
| Input | Required | Meaning | |---|---|---| | Total mahr | Yes | The full amount agreed in the contract | | Paid now | No | The prompt portion paid at or around the nikah | | Currency | No | Label for the amounts, for example USD, PKR, GBP (defaults to USD) |
Worked example
A contract records a total mahr of 10,000 (in the agreed currency) with 3,000 paid now. The deferred portion is 7,000. In many family arrangements the same structure appears with the prompt part as cash or gold jewellery given at the ceremony and the deferred part written into the nikahnama as a continuing obligation. Recording the numbers in this explicit split matters more than the amounts themselves: disputes years later are almost always about what was prompt, what was deferred, and what was forgiven, not about the headline total.
What mahr is
Mahr is the obligatory gift from the groom to the bride required by Islamic marriage law, established in the Quran (Surah An-Nisa, 4:4) as the wife's own property, not a payment to her family and not a purchase price. It belongs to her exclusively; neither the husband nor her guardians may take it back, and any later waiver must be her free choice. Where no amount was stipulated, classical law implies a proper dower (mahr al-mithl) assessed by her circumstances and peers. There is no scripturally fixed minimum or maximum in the majority view, though traditions encourage moderation and promptness.
Prompt and deferred: how the split is used
The two-part structure serves different purposes. The prompt portion is an immediate gift and earnest of the marriage. The deferred portion functions as financial protection for the wife, customarily becoming payable on demand or on dissolution of the marriage (divorce or the husband's death), according to the contract's terms and the governing school and local law. Proportions vary by region and family custom, from fully prompt to predominantly deferred, and large deferred amounts are sometimes intended as a deterrent against capricious divorce. Write the due conditions into the contract rather than relying on assumptions, because schools and jurisdictions differ on when deferred mahr can be claimed.
Limitations
This calculator performs arithmetic on an agreed amount; it is not a religious ruling, legal advice, or a marriage contract. Questions of validity, minimums, the effect of khula or divorce circumstances on the amount due, and enforceability belong to qualified scholars and to family law in your jurisdiction, and the registered nikahnama and its witnesses are the documents that matter in any dispute.
Recording the split so it survives memory
The nikahnama typically carries dedicated fields for the total mahr, the prompt portion (mu'ajjal), and the deferred portion (mu'wajjal), plus any portion formally forgiven at the contract. Fill all of them explicitly, including zeros, rather than leaving blanks that later readers interpret differently. Where part of the mahr is given as items (gold of a stated weight, for example), recording the agreed monetary value beside the item prevents a valuation dispute if circumstances change. Families sometimes treat the figures as ceremonial; the contract does not, and the clarity this calculator enforces on the split is the clarity the witnesses are attesting to.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is mahr the same as a dowry or bride price?
No. A dowry traditionally moves from the bride's family; a bride price is paid to her family. Mahr is paid to the wife herself and is her exclusive property, which is the distinction Islamic law emphasizes.
Can the deferred portion be forgiven?
Yes, by the wife's free and unpressured agreement, which should itself be documented. It cannot be taken, conditioned away under duress, or offset by the husband unilaterally.
What currency should the mahr be recorded in?
The currency the parties actually agree and can enforce locally. The calculator deliberately preserves your label without conversion, because an exchange-rate argument years later is an avoidable ambiguity in a contract.