Haq mehr in Pakistan: what it is and can it be forgiven

What haq mehr is

Haq mehr, called dower in the statutes, is money or property the husband gives the wife because of the marriage. It belongs to her alone. The Supreme Court described it in 2023: dower "is obligatory because it is an essential requirement of a valid marriage contract" (2024 SCMR 1078, para 5).

If no dower was named, a reasonable dower is presumed: "The validity of marriage remains effective even if the dower has not been expressly mentioned in the marriage contract" (2024 SCMR 1078, para 5). It can be cash, gold, a house or a plot, and it is separate from gifts given at the wedding.

The Court also treated mehr as a protection for the wife. It said dower serves "as a financial security in the case of dissolution of marriage or in the event of the passing away of the husband" (2024 SCMR 1078, para 5).

Prompt and deferred: when it must be paid

The nikah nama usually splits the mehr into prompt (paid on demand) and deferred (paid later, often on divorce or death). If the nikah nama says nothing about how it is to be paid, the law fills the gap:

So if the mode is blank, the whole mehr is due on demand. The Supreme Court said in 2023: "Mehr has to be paid whenever demanded by the wife" (2024 SCMR 142, para 3). In that case the husband argued he need not pay because the marriage was still going on. The Court rejected this, imposed costs, and allowed the Family Court to attach his property if he did not pay.

How much mehr is set is a matter agreed in the nikah. No statute we found fixes an amount or a formula. When columns were filled without her real say, "a doubt or ambiguity cannot be interpreted against her rights or interests" (2024 SCMR 1078, para 7). In that case a plot written in column 17, the special conditions column, was held to be part of her dower.

“Where no details about the mode of payment of dower are specified in the nikah nama, or the marriage contract, the entire amount of the dower shall be prescribed to be payable on demand.”

Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 · Section 10, Dower

Can haq mehr be forgiven?

The Supreme Court has noted the common practice of family compromises made without the wife taking part, and has said such deals do not bind her.

In PLD 2024 SC 291 a written agreement said the wife had given up her dower in return for divorce and custody of her child. She said she was never a party to it. The Court held that "any agreement where she waives the same is void" (PLD 2024 SC 291, para 6) and that "it is imperative that the wife must be made a party to the agreements concerning her rights" (PLD 2024 SC 291, para 8). It also said "A wife enjoys exclusive and absolute right over her dower" (PLD 2024 SC 291, para 8).

What the judgment does not decide is a case where the wife herself, freely and knowingly, writes off her own mehr. We did not find a Supreme Court judgment in the FAI archive on that exact point, so if this is your situation, get advice before you sign anything. A paper signed by relatives on her behalf is the kind the Court refused to enforce.

How to claim unpaid haq mehr

• Step 1: Read your nikah namaColumns 13 to 16 of the standard nikah nama deal with dower and column 17 with special conditions (2024 SCMR 1078, para 4). Note what was prompt, what was deferred, and what was already paid.
• Step 2: Ask for itPrompt mehr, or mehr with no stated mode, is payable on demand (MFLO section 10). Keep a record of your demand.
• Step 3: File in the Family CourtDower is listed in the Schedule, so the Family Court has exclusive jurisdiction (section 5). In Punjab you can join the claim to a suit for dissolution (section 7).
• Step 4: Enforce the decreeIf the husband does not pay, the Family Court can execute the decree, which may include attachment of his property (2024 SCMR 142, para 5).

“Subject to the provisions of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961, and the Conciliation Courts Ordinance, 1961, the Family Courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction to entertain, hear and adjudicate upon matters specified in the”

Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 5, Jurisdiction

“2. Dower.”

Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section Schedule, Schedule

Haq mehr after divorce, khula or a second marriage

After talaq by the husband, unpaid mehr stays a debt he owes. In 2024 SCMR 1078 the husband had divorced the wife and she sued for her dower; the Supreme Court upheld her right to the plot in her nikah nama.

If the husband marries again without the Arbitration Council's permission, the whole mehr becomes payable at once:

In khula the position is different, because the wife is asking to leave. In Punjab, section 10(5) lets the court ask her to give back up to half of deferred dower or a quarter of admitted prompt dower, and section 10(6) tells the court to order the husband to pay any outstanding deferred dower:

The Supreme Court applied the 25% cap in January 2026 even though the marriage was never consummated (2026 SCMR 561). But the force of these subsections is disputed after a 2022 Federal Shariat Court ruling: one Lahore High Court bench treated them as not in force from 1 May 2022 (2025 CLC 1074, para 8), and another said the ruling had not taken effect because Punjab appealed (PLD 2025 Lahore 18, para 16). Outside Punjab the rule may differ; the Supreme Court said the Punjab section has no application in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (2026 SCMR 561, para 12).

Dissolution on a ground such as cruelty is not khula, and section 10(5) by its words applies only to khula. FAI Media has an article on PLD 2026 SC 302, where the Supreme Court refused to let a court turn a cruelty case into khula and ordered the remaining dower paid.

“(5) Any man who contracts another marriage without the permission of the Arbitration Council shall⸺ (a) pay immediately the entire amount of the dower, whether prompt or deferred, due to the existing wife or wives, which amount, if not so paid, shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue; and”

Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 · Section 6, Polygamy

“In a suit for dissolution of marriage, if reconciliation fails, the Family Court shall immediately pass a decree for dissolution of marriage and, in case of dissolution of marriage through khula, may direct the wife to surrender up to fifty percent of her deferred dower or up to twenty-five percent of her admitted prompt dower to the husband. (6) Subject to subsection (5), in the decree for dissolution of marriage, the Family Court shall direct the husband to pay whole or part of the outstanding deferred dower to the wife.”

Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 10, Pre-trial proceedings

What this does not mean

• Dower is not the same as dowry or bridal gifts; those are separate claims.
• This page does not decide whether a wife can validly forgive her own mehr by her free choice; we found no Supreme Court ruling on that exact point.
• The khula rule quoted is the Punjab text, and its force is disputed.

Questions people ask

Sources

• Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 · Section 10
  Dower Pakistan Code
• Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 · Section 6
  Polygamy Pakistan Code
• Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 5
  Jurisdiction
• Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section Schedule
  Schedule
• Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 10
  Pre-trial proceedings
• Muhammad Yousaf v. Huma Saeed, 2024 SCMR 1078 (Supreme Court of Pakistan, 6 April 2023)
  Dower is obligatory; ambiguity in the nikah nama is not read against the wife.
• Khalid Pervaiz v. Samina, 2024 SCMR 142 (Supreme Court of Pakistan, 20 November 2023)
  Mehr must be paid whenever the wife demands it, even during the marriage.
• Mst. Haseena Bibi v. Abdul Haleem, PLD 2024 SC 291 (Supreme Court of Pakistan, 15 November 2023)
  Agreement waiving the wife's dower without her is void.
• Mst. Rafia Yaqoob v. Suleman Ayub, 2026 SCMR 561 (Supreme Court of Pakistan, 23 January 2026)
  Punjab khula: return capped at 25% of admitted prompt dower, consummated or not.
• Mst. Naila Javed v. Nasir Khan, PLD 2026 SC 302 (Supreme Court of Pakistan, 12 January 2026)
  No khula without the wife's clear statement; remaining dower ordered paid. Supreme Court of Pakistan (judgment PDF)
• Asif Mehmood v. Additional District Judge, 2025 CLC 1074 (Lahore High Court, 10 April 2025)
  Treated sections 10(5) and 10(6) as not in force from 1 May 2022.
• Syed Shouzab Imran Kazmi v. Syeda Iffat Bukhari, PLD 2025 Lahore 18 (Lahore High Court, 31 October 2024)
  Federal Shariat Court ruling on section 10(5) not yet effective because Punjab appealed.

Every quote and section above is traced to the full judgment or statute text by an automatic check that runs on every update.