As there are two kinds of mehar so

Mehar Moajjal: Prompt Dower (Paid instantly)

Mehar gair moajjal: Deffered dower (Paid later)


Hope it will help

'Dower' is defined to be the money or its value which is incumbent (obligatory) upon husband, either by reason of its being named in the contract of marriage, or by the nature of contact itself, to be paid in exchange of the usufruct of wife. (usufruct is the right of using and enjoying all the advantages).

'Dower' is different from 'Dowry'. Dowry is the money, goods or property that a wife brings to her husband at the time of marriage. (جہیز in Urdu)

'Raqam' is the word normally used for 'money'. But my reason of using the word 'amount' here for 'Mehar' or 'Dower' is that it may not be necessarily in the form of money. It can be gold, a property or any valuable asset.

Usually, I use the transliteration of 'Mehar' with its translation (Dower) in brackets while I translating the marriage certificates.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 40 mins (2014-03-09 20:11:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

while translating the marriage certificates

'Dower' is archaic and 'mehar' is not dowry (which is given by the bride's family), hence my suggestion. 'Sum promised to the bride' is possible provided that one is willing to gloss over immediate and deferred payment.

Mehar is not always in form of money. Jewelry is also used as mehar. To adjust this I am suggesting translating only as Dower.