Withholding Mahr in the Case of Her Violation

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about if I marry a woman for one month and she wants all of the mahr (dower) from me, but I am afraid of her acting against me. He (the Imam) said, ‘You cannot withhold the mahr (dower) that is set but when she acts against the terms of marriage then you can take from her what is equal to what she has violated of the mutually agreed conditions.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If something of mahr (dower) remains due on him and he learns that she has a husband, then what she has received belongs to her because of its making his going to bed with her lawful and he can withhold the remaining of mahr (dower).”’

“I once said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘I marry a woman for one month and withhold a certain amount from her mahr (dower). He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, you can do so for what is equal to her violation of the condition. If the violation is half of the month you can withhold one-half, if it is one-third then withhold one-third.’ Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Ali ibn al-Hakam from ‘Umar ibn Hanzalah from abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has narrated a similar Hadith.”

“About the case of a man who marries a woman in the manner of al-Mut‘ah (advantageous marriage) with the condition that she must come to him every day to comply with the condition, or sets a condition to come to him in certain days; but she asks to be excused and does not come to comply with the condition; if it is proper for him to deduct for the days that she did not come and withhold from her mahr (dower) accordingly. To this question from me abu al-Hassan (a.s.), said, ‘Yes, he can consider how much she has violated, then withhold proportionate to what she has not complied, except the days of her Hayd (menses); they are for her and he cannot have what is not lawful for him in matters of going to bed with her.’”

“Al-Rayyan ibn Shabib wrote to abu al-Hassan (a.s.), asking about a man who marries in the manner of al-Mut‘ah (advantageous marriage) for a certain amount of mahr (dower) for a certain number of days, pays her a part of her mahr (dower) and withholds the rest, then he goes to bed with her and before paying her the rest, learns that she has a husband who lives with her, if it is permissible for him to withhold the remaining of her mahr (dower) or it is not permissible. He (the Imam) wrote, ‘He must not give her anything because of her disobedience to Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious.’”