A husband reclaiming the gold he gave his wife at the wedding

A question about a husband who gave his wife gold at the wedding party and later claimed it back as his own, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that the gold belongs to the wife, whether it was part of the dower or a gift she had received. ¹

The questioner asked about a husband who gave his wife gold during the wedding party and then demanded it back, claiming the gold was his by right. ¹

The Department answered that gold a husband gives his bride at the wedding party is either part of the dower (mahr) or a present and gift. ¹ It said that if it is part of the dower, meaning it was agreed at the marriage contract and recorded in it, it belongs entirely to the wife. ¹ It said that if it was a present, the rules of gifts apply: a gift becomes binding once received and becomes the wife's property, and the husband may not take it back. It cited a hadith reported by Abu Dawud forbidding taking back a gift, except a father's gift to his child. ¹ It noted that Article 579 of the Jordanian Civil Code lists a gift from one spouse to the other among the cases in which a gift cannot be revoked. ¹ It concluded that any other dispute between the spouses is for the courts to settle. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3909, dated 11 August 2024. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.