English
Ash-Sha‘bi narrated: Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) gave a sermon, praised Allah and extolled Him, and said, “Do not exaggerate in women’s dowries. If it reaches me that anyone has given more than what the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gave or was given to him, I will place the excess in the public treasury.” Then he descended, and a Qurayshi woman confronted him, saying, “O Commander of the Faithful, is the Book of Allah more worthy of being followed, or your words?” He said, “The Book of Allah, so what is it?” She said, “You just forbade people from exaggerating in women’s dowries, but Allah, the Exalted, says in His Book: ‘And if you have given one of them a qintar, do not take anything from it’ [An-Nisa: 20].” Umar said, “Everyone is more knowledgeable than Umar,” twice or thrice, then returned to the pulpit and said to the people, “I forbade you from exaggerating in women’s dowries, but let a man do with his wealth as he pleases.” Narrated by Al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan and Sa‘id ibn Mansur.