Discover the meaning of the term Al-mfwiḍa (مفوِّضة) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readIt is she who was married without mention of dower, or on condition that she have no dower.
Derived from 'al-tafwid', which is surrender and refraining from contestation, used in marriage without dower, or on condition that she have none. It is read with kasra of the waw and with fatha: upon the first reading, she is the one who gave herself over to the husband without dower, that is, she was married without mention of her dower, or on condition that she have none; upon the second, she is the one her guardian gave over to the husband without mention of the dower. In the Miskin, commentary of the Kanz al-dqa'iq: 'al-mafwda' with kasra: the free woman who gave herself to the husband without dower; with fatha: the free woman whom her guardian married without her permission, without dower, or the slave girl whom her master married without dower; the free woman is thus read with fatha and kasra, the slave girl with fatha only.
With kasra of the waw: an agent noun from 'fawwada'; with fatha: the patient noun derived from it. Al-Jawhari said: 'fawwada ilayhi l-amra': he handed the matter over to him. Tafwid in marriage: marrying without dower; 'al-mafwda' with fatha of the waw: she whose dower was surrendered (mafwada mahrüha), the annexed noun having been omitted and the annexed pronoun established in its place, raised and hidden.
'Al-tafwid': negligence, as if the dower had been neglected, so it was not named. The poet said: 'People do not prosper in negligence without nobility of soul... nor nobility when their ignorants rule'.
With fatha of the waw: she whom her guardian married to a man without dower; with kasra of the waw: she who married herself to a man without dower.