Opinion on people getting cats, qurans, memorization of surahs as mahr.

So anything which is tangible and has value can be given as a mahr.

Anything that can be a object of sale, in a sales purchase contract can be mahr.

However, given that scholars have disagreed over the permissibility of selling the Quran or not, I would not like to see that given as a mahr.

Because the idea of the mahr is to be able to recuperate some value and it is a proxy for the earning power of the man and his ability to support his wife.

Now about memorization of the Quran that is valid and it is found in the hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.

The hadith of the steel ring which is found in Bukhari.

What happened in that instance during the life of the Prophet?

A woman came to the Prophet, alayhi salatu wasalam, to present herself for marriage.

He thanked her but he did not accept the offer. Another man who was there said, oh Messenger of Allah marry her to me.

And so the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, what do you have to give her as mahr?

He said I don't have much.

Go to your house and find something. He went he said, I found nothing.

Go back to your house and find even a steel ring. Came back, he had nothing. He said, I'll give her the cloth that I'm wearing right now.

He said if you give her that cloth then you'll have nothing to wear.

How much of the Quran do you have?

He mentioned the surahs that he had of the Quran and he said, I have married her to you with what is with you of the Quran.

So the idea of marrying for memorizing the Qur'an and teaching the Quran is valid.

However, it is not the primary form of mahr that was expected.

It is a suitable replacement when a person is of meager or restricted means and wants to marry because there is some value that shows that the person who is poor and maybe not earning enough money is still actively involved in learning and educating themselves, right?

So it still exhibits the fact that the person is not a complete loafer and doing nothing.

They have the ability to learn, memorize, and teach.

So while it is permissible. It is not the primary form that mahr should take.

Allah knows best.