If a wife dies before the couple lives together, must the husband still pay the mahr? What Islamic law says

It is obligatory for a husband to pay his wife's mahr. In the Holy Quran, Allah says: 'And lawful to you are the chaste believing women, and the chaste women of those who were given the Book before you, if you give them their mahr for marriage, not as open fornicators or secret lovers.' (Surah Al-Ma'idah, verse 5)

Elsewhere it is stated: 'There is no sin upon you if you marry them, provided you give them their mahr.' (Surah Al-Mumtahanah, verse 10)

The question arises: if a wife dies after marriage but before the couple has lived together, must the husband still pay the mahr?

According to Islamic law, even if the husband and wife never met after the marriage, the full agreed mahr becomes obligatory on the husband after the wife's death. This is because if either spouse dies after marriage, even without any private time together beforehand, the full agreed mahr becomes obligatory on the husband.

However, the unpaid mahr is now counted as the wife's inherited property. Under inheritance law, the husband is also entitled to half of his wife's property, so if the wife dies before the mahr is paid, paying half of the mahr is sufficient.

For example, if someone fixed a mahr of 400,000 taka at marriage and the wife then died before the couple lived together, the husband may keep half, that is 200,000 taka, and give only the remaining 200,000 taka to the wife's heirs, without paying the full 400,000 taka.

In other words, although the full agreed mahr is obligatory on the husband, in practice paying half discharges the duty under the inheritance calculation, because the husband himself is an heir to the other half.