What happens to the mahr if a divorce occurs before the marriage is consummated?

If a specific mahr amount was agreed upon at the time of the contract and the couple divorces before consummating the marriage, the Quran directly addresses this situation: the wife is entitled to half of the agreed mahr, not the full amount and not nothing, reflecting that a genuine contract existed and created real obligations even though the marriage was never physically completed. If no specific mahr amount had been fixed at all, the majority view is that the wife is instead owed a smaller, customary consolation gift (mut'ah) appropriate to the husband's means, rather than half of an unspecified sum. If the wife herself initiates the separation before consummation without any wrongdoing by the husband, some scholars hold she may not be entitled to any portion, though this varies by circumstance and school. These rules exist to balance fairness on both sides: the wife is not left with nothing after a contract was made in good faith, while the husband is not held to the full financial obligation of a marriage that was never consummated.

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