========== Bride-Price / Dowry for a poor
man ============
One day, a woman came to see the Prophet of
Allah [PBUH= Allah's blessings and Peace be
upon him] and said: "Oh! Messenger of Allah!
I do not have a husband and I want to be a
good wife; i give myself to you."
The Messenger of Allah [PBUH] kept silent for
a long while.
Suddenly, a man who was present stood up
and asked if the woman would accept him for
a husband.
The Messenger of Allah [PBUH] said: "Do you
have anything to give her as a dowry."
The man thought and said: "I have half of my
cloth," and indeed he was wearing a single
cloth around him.
"If you give her part of this cloth, you will
have nothing to wear anymore; it will become
her possession. Find something else." Since at
this time the followers of Islam and the
Prophet himself [PBUH] were poor, the man
thought again a long time and declared: "No, I
do not possess a thing to give her."
The Messenger of Allah then told him: "Go to
your house and look for something, even if it
is an iron ring."
The man departed and came back a while
later, and declared: "I looked everywhere, but
I did not find anything to give her as her
dowry."
After reflection, the Prophet of Allah [PBUH]
said: "Did you learn some of the Qur'an?"
"Yes, I have learned by heart so-and-so Surahs
[chapters of the Qur'an]"
The Messenger of Alah [PBUH] therefore
declared: "Teach her what you know of the
Qur'an, and this will constitute her dowry."
The couple felt contented with what was
proposed, and they got married.