First of all, we’d like to make it clear that engagement or betrothal is an introduction and a promise to marry. If it has been called off, what has been given as mahr from the fiancé’s side should be given back to him unless he pardons it or that he has caused harm to the girl and it has been judged by reliable fair judges that he has no right to what he has given before.
Dr. Rif`at Fawzi, former professor of Shari`ah at Cairo Univ. , states: “As for things given as a present, spouses should not demand them as they were given as a present and it is not proper to ask for them. As for what has been given from what has been agreed on before engagement, they should be given back unless the groom/bride pardons them or that a harm has been caused in which case reliable fair arbitrators should interfere in order to judge the case. The harm should be estimated by reliable Muslim judges who should help the parties to either come back or to break the engagement in an amicable way.”