A Dowry which is resultant of a legitimated marriage embodies a financial value. The present paper considers the nature of marriage.There are two main views among jurisprudents about the nature and challenging classification of the marriage amongst different contracts: Some believe that marriage is a compensatory contract and the nature of the dowry is, also, compensatory one, whereas, some believe quite the contrary.The present paper applied descriptive-analytical method to study the marriage contract and the nature of dowry from the perspective of Imami and Sunni jurisprudents with a focus on the opinion of Imam Khomeini (RA).It was found that all the above-mentioned jurisprudents including Imam Khomeini (RA) emphasized on the financial nature of the dowry.Therefore, the views don`t challenge the nature of the dowry but the marriage such that jurisprudents believe marriage is not compensatory contract but dowry enjoys financial and economic nature. However, according to Sunni jurists, who also believe in the value and financial benefit of the dowry, marriage is a contract of compensation and, as a result, dowry is compensatory as well. The present paper discusses various rulings and cases which are emerged from the underlying attitudes.Keywords: dowry, nature of dowry, jurisprudence, law, jurisprudential nature
Manuscript profile