The concept of dowry seems to be rather a cultural than an Islamic one. How many are aware of this fact?

Exactly.

Agreed

I find it very saddening that families are put so much under pressure for this purpose. I generally am interested in cultural stuff, but against them when they have no religious significance for me. This tradition is making poor people suffer and for God's sake, you are not marrying someone (or at least should not) because of what her parents are giving her in dowry. As for upper class or upper middle class being more educated, I am not quite sure as in how much they generally know about Islam - how much they are taught in school and how strictly they follow Islam. However, lower classes do look upon them...

Well, I think they all know about Islam. Everything is written very clearly in Quran especially about wasting money unnecessarily. The thing is that they are badly trapped in this system that they consider not giving dowry will make their daughter's wedding less attractive as compared to others. And they save almost every penny for son's education and daughter's weddings.So its painful for them to compromise on that. I mentioned upper class and upper middle class specifically because for them its not as painful to ignore dowry. And lower middle class will automatically follow that trend like they normally do.

Hmm, Nabeha, I am of the point of view that we tend to take it for granted that those who have had the privilege to get 'good education' know exactly what Islam is all about and what is written in Quran. It is not given that all of those upper and upper middle class people have read the translation of Quran and are aware of what they should do and what they should not. I do not necessarily equate status/level of degree/place of education with being called 'educated'. I do, however, agree that all this dowry thing is mostly about showing-off one's status and trying one's best to not give anyone the opportunity to point out at any short-comings. As you rightly said, it is the system we have created on our own and sadly have managed to trap ourselves in it. I also agree that upper and upper middle class have a bigger responsibility towards society as they are taken as 'role models'.

thx for your reply

I have often seen people say that, even the groom's side. In a way it is somewhat still expected that parents will not give away their daughter empty-handed. My issue is with the materialistic approach to the whole event. Things could be so simple and straight-forward. This unnecessary load on parents to accumulate wealth in order to later give it to daughter/daughter's groom is something I am not supportive of, because it creates so many issues - especially for those who are struggling to have enough to live a decent life.