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Fatwa CenterDividing the dowry of a wife who died before her marriage is consummated
Question
Assalamualaikum WRWB. A Muslim marriage takes place. At the time of marriage the bride-groom gives away the Dower amount (Meher), in the form of gold ornaments to the bride. After some days the wife passes away, due to illness. Now, according to Islamic Shariyath, Who should take possession / custody of the gold ornaments (i.e. Meher), the husband or the wife’s parents? Please enlighten about this doubt. Allah-hafiz.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
If the wife dies – even before the marriage is consummated – then her husband is obliged to give her the named Mahr (dowry). The Fiqh Encyclopedia reads: “The jurists agreed that if one of the spouses dies before the consummation of a marriage where the dowry is named, then this named dowry is confirmed (i.e. she is entitled to it) whether the wife is a free woman or a slave, because the dowry becomes due as soon as the marriage contract is conducted...”
Therefore, the dowry is for the wife’s heirs, which they should divide among them according to the Sharee'ah, and the husband is among the heirs. Even if she had died before he consummated the marriage with her, he still inherits from her. Ibn Qudaamah 
said in Al-Mughni: “There is no difference regarding the inheritance between the spouses, whether the death occurred before the consummation of the marriage or after it, based on the generality of the meaning of the verse (4:12), and because the Prophet determined for Birwa’ bint Waashiq her share of inheritance when her husband died before he consummated the marriage with her while he [her husband] did not allocate a dowry for her, and it is because the marriage is valid and confirmed, and so, it entails inheritance for the spouse just like after its consummation.”
Hence, if this wife had no children – from an ex-husband – then her husband gets a half; so he inherits half of the named dowry and her parents inherit the other half (if she has no other heirs).
Allaah Knows best.
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