The Quran

236

لا جُناحَ عَلَيكُم إِن طَلَّقتُمُ النِّساءَ ما لَم تَمَسّوهُنَّ أَو تَفرِضوا لَهُنَّ فَريضَةً ۚ وَمَتِّعوهُنَّ عَلَى الموسِعِ قَدَرُهُ وَعَلَى المُقتِرِ قَدَرُهُ مَتاعًا بِالمَعروفِ ۖ حَقًّا عَلَى المُحسِنينَ

Muhammad Asad

You will incur no sin if you divorce women while you have not yet touched them nor settled a dower upon them;¹ but [even in such a case] make provision for them - the affluent according to his means, and the straitened according to his means - a provision in an equitable manner: this is a duty upon all who would do good.²

The term faridah denotes the dower (often also called mahr) which must be agreed upon by bridegroom and bride before the conclusion of the marriage-tie. While the amount of this dower is left to the discretion of the two contracting parties (and may even consist of no more than a token gift), its stipulation is an essential part of an Islamic marriage contract. For exceptions from this rule, see 33:50 and the corresponding note 58.
Lit., "upon the doers of good" - i.e., all who are determined to act in accordance with God's will.