Vol. 15, No. 1, June - December 2023

Islam attaches great importance to dignity of women as against the practice in the past when women were treated as chattels. In the Nigerian society, the payment of Mahr which has been made an exclusive material right of the wife in Islam, is neglected with much emphasis laid on prompt payment of an exorbitant amount of guardians' gift. Equally, permissibility of deferment of Mahr till after consummation becomes a polemical issue among scholars as Maliki Jurists insist that its payment promptly is essential to the validity of marriage. Emphasis laid on the minimum and the maximum amount of Mahr also denies the wife her right to decide on any amount she consents to. In this regard, this paper attempts to examine views of scholars and in particular, exegetical discourse of al-Qurtubi on Qur'ānic Passages relating to payment of Mahr and its essence. It intends to critically analyse the violation and misconception of its principles and find panacea to the challenges confronting the protection of women's right to bride price Exegetical and analytical methods were adopted in this paper. It was discovered that guardians' gift is permissible, but it must be delayed till after the marriage contract. Likewise, prompt payment of Mahr is very desirable to avoid its neglect. The bride also has the right to obtain any amount of Mahr regardless of being smaller than a stipulated minimum or higher amount than the one paid by the Prophet. It is therefore concluded that the breaching and misconception of principles of Mahr lead to the delay of marriage, pre-marital sex and the destruction of valuable rights being given to the wife in the Qur'an regarding the matter of marriage price

Keywords: Mahr, marriage, right, dowry, dower