marriage contract is a fundamental religious right of the wife, and the husband may not reduce the mahr. Even upon the husband's death, the deferred mahr is paid from his estate before all other debts, because it is a religious requirement. According to a hadith, the Muslim Prophet Muhammad stated the mahr should be "one gold piece", but the mahr amount is often negotiated between the parents or guardians of the bride and groom (also called wali), and the parties often draft mahr agreements by filling in the blanks of form contracts that employ standard boilerplate terms. The typical mahr containing marriage contract consists of the names of the parties, the amount of the mahr, a cleric's signature, the signature of two male witnesses, and a disclaimer that Islamic law will govern the marriage contract. In Islamic marriages, assets brought into the union by the wife may only be accepted by the husband after the mahr has been paid by him to her. In Arabian world, there are varying interpretations of mahr containing marriage contracts, highlighting the differences between Maliki, Hanbali, Hanafi, Shafi, and Jafari schools of Islamic jurisprudence. For example, the Hanafi School holds that if the woman initiates the divorce (khulʿ) she cannot receive her mahr regardless of whether the husband is or is not at fault, while the Maliki School holds that when the husband is at fault for the divorce, the wife does not forfeit her right to the mahr even if she initiates the divorce. The schools also differ over the requisite number of witnesses to the contract. The Hanafi School requires two witnesses on the document for a mahr containing contract to be valid, while the Maliki School holds that witnesses are only needed at marriage's publication but not the document. Differences and issues Mahr is similar in legal enforceability to donatio propter nuptias of Eastern Roman law, except some critical differences. Donatio propter nuptias was optional and voluntary, while mahr is mandatory and required for all Muslim marriages. Mahr is not an optional gift. The other difference was that donatio propter nuptias was a security the groom delivered to bride or registered in her name, at the time of marriage, in exchange for dos (dowry) that came with the bride. Mahr is a religious requirement according to Sharia. Under Islamic law, there is no concept of marital property. In Islam, marriage is a