About 100 years ago, and of course during the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhe wa sallam and the tabien, tabi-tabien,tabi-tabi-tabien (later generations) Muslims were different then they are today. One hundred years ago, you were hard pressed to find a woman without proper Islamic attire or an Arab who did not have the entire Quran memorized (hafiz Quran).  These  days it is common for the woman to have failed in proper Islamic dress attire and many Arabs and other life time , or long time Muslims that have not memorized more than 10-20 small Surah from the Quran. Additionally Islamic character amongst many of the Muslims is poor at best.  Muslims are not as religious and forthright as they were in the past.  It is because of this that many movements have started that are trying to bring people back or at least make them conscious of the style of the Companions, and later generations which still held fast to religion and religious character. and . In the days of old, a few questions could be asked, and you could be confident that the brother would be pious and upright. Currently with some much bidah,  deviant groups and concepts, and increased use of inauthentic materials and blind madhhab following there is no telling what you could get yourself into when marrying a brother who has not been check out.  Which is why this book was designed, to try to get the information out  of the brother so that you are not shock later.

Aisha narrated in Sahih Muslim #3318 AbuSalamah ibn AbdurRahman reported: I asked Aisha, the wife of Allah's Messenger (SAWS): What is the amount of dower of Allah's Messenger (SAWS)? She said: It was twelve uqiyahs and one nash. She said: Do you know what is an-nash? I said: No. She said: It is half of uqiyah, and it amounts to five hundred dirhams (approximately $30.00) and that was the dower given by Allah's Messenger sallallahu alayhe wa sallam to his wives.

However, the woman can ask for what ever she  wishes, but the best dowry is also the easiest dowry. If you ask for a good sum of money it would be a good idea to save this money in case of a divorce or sudden death of the husband, so that you have some means to support yourself.

Also, because death, illness or divorce can happen unexpectedly, a husband should make sure, and a wife should make sure that she has the means to feed and house herself and her children during that transitional time.  During a divorce a wife stays in her husband's home until the divorce is finalized. After that she must support and maintain herself, so she must plan for that. Before a woman marries it is good financial advice iif she has 2 +months of living expenses saved in case of a divorce so that she has some cushion time to find a job. Unfortunately the divorce rate is getting to the 50% failure rate and above and so it would be wise to have a back up plan. However, if the husband dies unexpectedly or some other tragedy occurs, one should  have some savings as best as one can arrange, to have a few months of living expenses. Again, unfortunately, Muslim communities may not be able to support a woman and her family if she looses her husband suddenly and therefore you need to make ends meet during this time so that you can pay your rent and have food and unities.  In order to save, people may have to temporarily cut off luxury items  (junk food and drinks, entertainment) or try other money saving techniques until you have a small nest egg for living expenses for 2--3 months minimum.  Lastly, even if you have money saved in a bank account, if that bank account  only has your husband's name on it, and he dies, you can not get that money right away as his legal spouse recognized by the state.  So make sure that savings  is accessible in a joint account or  other secure means or in your own account .