Please explain the concept of Mahr (dower the bride-groom pays to his wife) in Islam. What should be the amount of money or value of the Mahr? Can it be a small amount or very large? Can the guardian of the bride demand a very large amount for Mahr? I encountered this situation and need clarification from Shariah.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

There is no limitation for a minimum or a maximum amount for Mahr.  Imam al-Shafi’e narrated in his book al-Umm from Abu Yahyah that he said: 'I asked Imam Rabeeah about the minimum Mahr, he said, any amount that is agreed on by both parties.  I said, ‘If it is only a Dirham?’  He said, ‘Even if it is half a Dirham.’  Then I said, ‘If it is less than that,’ he said, ‘yes, even if it is a handful wheat or a seed of wheat’.

However, there are many texts that encourage minimizing the expenditure of a marriage to make it easy and to put an end to the evil that exists because of remaining spinster or unmarried.  The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) have said: "The most blessed marriage is the one with the least expenditure".

Allah knows best.