For her haq mehr, young writer asks for Rs100,000 worth of books instead of money, gold

A young bride from the north-eastern city of Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, set her soon-to-be husband a very unusual condition for their marriage. 

Haq mehr is the obligatory payment — made in the form of money, jewelry, home goods, furniture and/or any other form of property — made by a man directly to his wife-to-be upon taking her hand in marriage. 

Only the woman has right over her haq mehr, and paying it is a legal obligation under Islamic law and customs. 

For her haq mehr, Naila Shamal of Mardan, a young author who is also marrying an author, did not make the traditional demand for jewelry, money or property from her husband.

She asked for something she values much more than those things — she asked for Rs100,000 worth of books. 

In a recorded message, the young woman, looking radiant in her bridal attire and sitting on a sofa in front of a bookshelf, explained that she asked for the unusual haq mehr because things are difficult for everyone in times of runaway mehengai (inflation) and because wrong customs need to be done away with. 

"I asked for books because, firstly, everything has become so expensive. We can't afford these things [lavish weddings] due to inflation. I did this because we need to put an end to wrong customs. Our lives are getting so difficult due to them. 

"Every woman wants gold and money, but as a writer I asked for books. If as a writer I myself do not value books, how can I expect ordinary people to value them? This was the real reason I asked for books for my haq mehr — we need to value books ourselves so we can ask others to do so as well."

The idea was well received on social media platform Twitter, with the original post getting 1,400 likes at the time this article was published. 

"The couple is lucky enough to have each other and they will definitely enjoy writing in each other’s company. More power to them," wrote Twitter user @bzainab27. 

"That's something we don't often see in our culture. That's great thinking," wrote @AamirSardar18.