What is the Sunnah / recommended mahr?

People usually recommend and assume that Mahr Fâtimi is the "Sunnah"/recommended amount of mahr. However, we would recommend mahr ازواج النبي (Mahr azwâjin Nabiyy; also known as Mahr al-azwâj). This is the mahr (dower/bridal gift) given by the Nabî صلى الله عليه وسلم to his wives. Here are a number of reasons why this is superior to Mahr Fâtimi:

1. It is proven through authentic sources: Abu Salamah b. 'Abd ar-Rahmân reported: "I asked 'Â-ishah, the wife of Allâh's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم): 'What is the amount of dower of Allâh's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم)?' She said: 'It was twelve ûqiyyah and one nash.' She said: 'Do you know what is an-nash?' I said: 'No.' She said: 'It is half of ûqiyyah, and it amounts to five hundred dirhams, and that was the dower given by Allâh's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to his wives.'" [1]
   On the other hand, there is no primary Hadîth source for the exact amount of Mahr Fâtimi.
2. Mahr ازواج النبي was given multiple times whilst Mahr Fâtimi was only given once.
3. Mahr ازواج النبي was given by Nabî صلى الله عليه وسلم himself to his own wives whilst Mahr Fâtimi was given by someone else (despite being a noble companion, his son-in-law) to his daughter.
4. There is no dispute in the amount. It is exactly 500 dirhams. There are at least 4 different opinions on Mahr Fâtimi which differ greatly ranging from 400 dirhams (approx. 1225g of silver) to 400 mithqâl (approx. 1750g of silver). Even if we wanted to give this mahr (ignoring the above points), we couldn't say with certainty which one was correct anyway.

To find out the latest price of Mahr al-azwâj, see our daily updated mahr prices.

And Allâh knows best

[1] Sahîh Muslim: Book of Marriage