Mutat

This is a ruling agreed upon by the Shi’ahs with the reservation that if the husband should die before consummation, without having specified a dower, nor set any portion for his wife in the contract, then nothing is due to her by way of dower or gift (mutat) (Ref. Al-Hilli, p. 21).

Relying on Qur'an, Sura II, verse 236, Nasir (1990a, p. 144; 1990b, pp. 96-98) shows that the amount of mutat is a matter of goodwill and of custom.

Once it has had three steers, the new owner can 'cut the linkage' (mutat) by giving back an ox and six goats or so, depending on the practice in a particular area, and the original owner will give away the ox in exchange for another calf, which will create a new cattle lineage.

This argument confirms that in traditional Muslim jurisprudence the concept of some kind of compensation for the divorced Muslim wife, in the form of mata or mutat, was not unknown.