Is It Permissible to Give a Cat as a Dowry (Mahr)?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Is it permissible to give a cat as a dowry?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Yes, it is permissible to provide your spouse a cat as her dowry (mahr).

Dowry (Mahr)

Dowry is defined as wealth obligatory upon the groom in a marriage contract in exchange for the permissibility of intercourse – it is either specified or contractually demanded if left unspecified. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar citing the ‘Inaya]

Essentially, since the dowry is “wealth” (mal), anything that would be considered “wealth” can be used as a dowry. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Wealth (mal mutaqawwim) is something that has value and is permissible in the Sacred Law. [Ibid.]

Pets

Scholars have permitted the buying and selling of pets. Seeing that a sale is only complete if the item of sale is “wealth,” as defined above – it necessitates that pets are considered “wealth” as well.

They are, therefore, permissible to be given as a dowry.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.