Marriage Section · 15 – Change – A Marriage Without Mahr Through Exchange
It is narrated from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade *shiğar*. The narrator, Ubaydu’llah, added in the narration of the *Musaddad* hadith: I asked Nafi’, “What is *shiğar*?” Nafi’ replied, "It is marrying a woman without a dowry and having her marry one's son without a dowry."
Abbas, the son of Abdullah bin Abbas, married his daughter to Abdurrahman, the son of Hakim. Abdurrahman then married his daughter to him. They had stipulated that each woman’s dowry would be equivalent to the other's. Muawiya (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote a letter to Mervan commanding the separation of those who marry through *sighar*. And in his letter he said: “This is *sighar*, which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) forbade.”
EXPLANATION
*Sighar*; as understood from the texts of hadith, is when a man gives his daughter to another man and takes his former wife’s daughter in return. Both parties do not stipulate the dowry that is obligatory in these marriages. Each party's dowry corresponds to the other's.