Marriage, a social institution with various obligations and customs, involves legal responsibilities like dowry, alimony, and cohabitation. Traditional practices like bride price, gift-giving, breastfeeding rights, and dowry are deeply rooted in societal culture. This study focuses on dowry, a multifaceted concept encompassing personal and household items prepared for the bride and those she brings to her marital home. However, the distinction between these traditional customs and the dowry mandated by Islamic Law often must be clarified to avoid misconceptions and misinterpretations. This study aims to distinguish matrimonial practices’ religious and cultural origins and elucidate their distinctions. Islamic law mandates that the groom provides the dowry directly to the bride, contrasting with traditional dowry practices often rooted in cultural traditions. Other customs like bride price and gift-giving further complicate the landscape of matrimonial customs. Islamic law provides clear guidelines for marital obligations through religious scriptures, but traditional practices often lack definitive boundaries, leading to asset distribution complications upon marriage dissolution. Historical records from the Ottoman period provide insights into the judiciary’s role in resolving dowry-related disputes. The urgency of developing comprehensive legal regulations concerning traditional marital practices, such as dowry, is underscored, as it is crucial for fostering clarity and fairness in marital relations. This study adopts a comprehensive approach, utilising historical records from the Ottoman period, specifically the Istanbul Kadı Registers. These registers provide detailed accounts of dowry-related disputes and resolutions, serving as the cornerstone of our understanding of the judiciary’s role and the legal provisions related to dowry practices. A wide range of secondary sources, including historical texts, legal commentaries, and contemporary scholarly articles on Islamic matrimonial law and Turkish cultural practices, were also analysed to deepen the analysis.
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