No Means to Pay Dower

Question:
There is a hadith wherein the Prophet (sws) directs a man to teach verses from the Qur'an as mehr, in order to marry a lady; this is supposed to stress upon the importance of th dower due to be paid to women by their husbands; as a token for assuming financial responsibility.

In the Qur'an, those who, for some reason cannot afford to get married (i.e. perhaps, having no means of living and/or supporting), are directed to observe chastity.

How do you reconcile the two?

Response:
In my understanding, the Qur'an is actually encouraging bachelors with little means to go ahead with the idea of getting married. The Qur'an says:

"Marry those among you who are single, or the virtuous ones among yourselves, male or female: if they are in poverty, Allah will give them means out of His grace: for Allah encompasseth all, and he knoweth all things." [24:32]

The verse asks bachelors - free or slaves (since those existed in that society too) - to get married. Should they desire to do so to maintain their chastity, the Almighty promises them economic betterment, enabling them to come out of poverty and live a decent life. However, the next verse says:

"Let those who find not the wherewithal for marriage keep themselves chaste, until Allah gives them means out of His grace." [24:33]

The two verses together suggest that ideally, a poor man having attained the age of marriage should take a wife, even if he feels he doesn't have ample means of survival. God promises betterment and he should have faith in Him; however, if he doesn't feel bold enough about taking such a decision, given his financial standing, and fears hardships, he can stay a bachelor and maintain his chastity; he must not allow himself to succumb to evil at any point. Meanwhile, he should wait for marriage till such time till he gets economically better-off, by Allah's grace.

Given this Qur'anic understanding, the Prophet (sws) encouraged the poor man to get married, and given that the latter didn't have the money or the wealth to present anything tangible as dower, he was required to teach some verses of the Qur'an to his wife as dower instead. The better alternative - of taking the bold step of marriage despite poverty - was chosen.

The hadith also clarifies that if there is nothing material to present as dower, something intangible of value can be offered - in the case of this man, the teaching of a few Qur'anic verses. Obviously, the most valuable learning one can have is the learning of the Qur'an.

The hadith, in fact, demonstrates subtle dimensions of what the Qur'an says on the issue of dower in marriage.

One thing to be learnt is that the Qur'an doesn't require the dower to be paid immediately at the time of marriage; it can be delayed. Also, in the first place, it is to be decided according to the circumstances of the individual as well as the customs of society.

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