The Fourth Chapter: Regarding the dowry. This cannot be devoid of one of two cases: either he is from those permitted to marry slave women, or he is not. If he is one who is permitted to marry slave women and has married her with a valid marriage, she is entitled to the specified dowry. If he has not consummated the marriage and chooses to annul it, she has no dowry, because the annulment was necessitated by her circumstances, so she is like a woman with a defect whose marriage is annulled. If he is not from those permitted to marry slave women, the contract is invalid from its inception, and there is no dowry for it prior to consummation. However, if he consummates with her, he is liable for her dowry. Is the specified dowry or the dowry of her peers (mahr al-mithl) obligatory? There are two narrations regarding this, which we have mentioned previously. The same applies if he is from those permitted to marry slave women, but he married her without the permission of her master, or similar instances that render the marriage invalid.

The Fifth Chapter: That he may claim back what he has paid in damages from the one who deceived him, including the dowry and the value of the children. This is the choice of Al-Khiraqi, and one narration from Ahmad. Ibn al-Mundhir said: Umar, Ali, and Ibn Abbas judged accordingly, and Al-Shafi'i held this view in his early (qadim) position. The other narration is that he cannot claim back the dowry. This is the choice of Abu Bakr, who said: This is the opinion of Ali, and it is the view of Al-Thawri, Abu Thawr, the People of Reason (Ashab al-Ra'y), and Al-Shafi'i in his later (jadid) position; because it [the dowry] became obligatory upon him in exchange for a benefit he received, which is intercourse, so he cannot claim it back, just as if he had purchased usurped property and consumed it. This is in contrast to the value of the child, for it was not obtained in exchange for compensation, as it was necessitated by the child's freedom, and the freedom of the child belongs to the child, not his father.