Question

“if a man intended by means of zihaar to refrain from having intercourse with a woman who is not his wife, then he must offer expiation for breaking an oath (kafaarat yameen) if he had married her and had intercourse with her.”- is it correct?

Answer

Zihar is when one resembles their wife with someone who is unlawful for them to marry. If a body part is mentioned like in the phrase, “you are to me like my mother’s back”, then zihar will take place. If however, a more general phrase was stated such as ” you are like my mother” then the individuals intention will be taken into consideration. If they intended zihar then zihar will take effect otherwise not.

Zihar only takes place with one’s wife. Hence, if a man uttered a statement of zihar to a woman who is not his wife then zihar will not take place. There is one exception and that is if he makes the statement of zihar conditional upon marriage. For example, he said, “If I marry you, then you are to me like the back of my mother”. In such a case if he gets married to her the zihar will take effect and he will not be allowed to engage in intimate relations with her until he carries out the penalty for zihar.

The penalty for zihar is not the same as an oath. Rather, a person has to fast for sixty days consecutively. If they are unable to then they would have to feed sixty poor people.

It is not entirely clear what you mean by “a man intended by means of zihaar to refrain from having intercourse with a woman who is not his wife“. If you meant what we have described above and that he made a statement similar to those quoted above then you may apply the rules accordingly. If however, the intended meaning is something else, then please clarify so that we can issue a correct ruling.

اللباب في شرح الكتاب (3/ 69)
ولا يكون الظهار إلا من زوجته، فإن ظاهر من أمته لم يكن مظاهر ومن قال لنسائه “أنتن علي كظهر أمي” كان مظاهراً من جماعتهن، وعليه لكل واحدةٍ منهن كفارةٌ
ولا يكون الظهار إلا من زوجته) ، لقوله تعالى: {من نسائهم}

البحر الرائق شرح كنز الدقائق ومنحة الخالق وتكملة الطوري (4/ 107)
قَوْلُهُ وَلَا ظِهَارَ إلَّا مِنْ زَوْجَتِهِ) أَيْ: ابْتِدَاءً
…
قَيَّدْنَا بِالِابْتِدَاءِ؛ لِأَنَّهُ فِي الْبَقَاءِ لَا يَحْتَاجُ إلَى كَوْنِهَا زَوْجَةً كَمَا قَدَّمْنَا أَنَّهُ لَوْ ظَاهَرَ مِنْ زَوْجَتِهِ الْأَمَةِ ثُمَّ مَلَكَهَا بَقِيَ الظِّهَارُ وَكَمَا خَرَجَتْ الْأَمَةُ خَرَجَتْ الْأَجْنَبِيَّةُ وَالْمُبَانَةُ حَتَّى لَوْ عَلَّقَ الظِّهَارَ بِشَرْطٍ ثُمَّ أَبَانَهَا ثُمَّ وُجِدَ الشَّرْطُ فِي الْعِدَّةِ لَا يَصِيرُ مُظَاهِرًا بِخِلَافِ الْإِبَانَةِ الْمُعَلَّقَةِ، وَالْفَرْقُ فِي الْبَدَائِعِ وَحَاصِلُهُ أَنَّ وَقْتَ وُجُودِ الشَّرْطِ صَادِقٌ فِي التَّشْبِيهِ فَلَا ظِهَارَ، وَأَمَّا فِي الطَّلَاقِ فَفَائِدَةُ وُقُوعِ الْمُعَلَّقِ بَعْدَ تَقَدُّمِ الْإِبَانَةِ تَنْقِيصُ الْعَدَدِ وَتَصِحُّ إضَافَتُهُ إلَى الْمِلْكِ أَوْ سَبَبُهُ كَالطَّلَاقِ بِأَنْ قَالَ إنْ تَزَوَّجْتُكِ فَأَنْت عَلَيَّ كَظَهْرِ أُمِّي فَإِنْ نَكَحَهَا كَانَ مُظَاهِرًا

اللباب في شرح الكتاب (3/ 70)
وكفارة الظهار: عتق رقبةٍ؛ فإن لم يجد فصيام شهرين متتابعين، فإن لم يستطع فإطعام ستين مسكيناً؛

Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel