al-Ashajj and others, all of whom mentioned that he pronounced zihār only once, whereupon the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered him to make expiation. Thus, the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, “Then go back on what they have said” [Al-Mujādilah: 3], do not mean repeating the actual pronouncement of zihār. For the first pronouncement either brought zihār into effect or did not. If it did, the second merely confirms it; if it did not, the second does not bring it into effect either, since it is identical to the first. Rather, His words, “Then go back on what they have said” [Al-Mujādilah: 3], mean that they go back on their prohibition of what they had forbidden themselves concerning their wives through zihār—namely, intercourse—and seek release from that prohibition by intending intercourse and firmly resolving upon it.

The sixth opinion is that of Ibn Qutaybah: the meaning of His words, “Then go back on what they have said” [Al-Mujādilah: 3], is that they return, in Islam, to the very pronouncement of zihār that they used in the pre-Islamic period and regarded as divorce.

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It has also been said that the passage involves a rearrangement of its clauses, so that its intended order is:

“Those who pronounce zihār against their wives must free a slave before the two touch one another. This is what you are admonished to do, and Allah is All-Aware of what you do. Whoever cannot find one must fast for two consecutive months before the two touch one another. Whoever is unable must feed sixty needy people. Then they go back on what they have said.”

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There is disagreement over the words of Allah Most High, “Before the two touch one another” [Al-Mujādilah: 3]. Most scholars understood them in their general sense, saying that a man who has pronounced zihār must not kiss his wife, have intimate physical contact with her, or touch her until he has made expiation. This is the position of Mālik and most of his followers. Al-Hasan, ‘Atā’, al-Zuhrī and Qatādah said that the wording is not general in scope; rather, it refers specifically to intercourse. Thus, a man who has pronounced zihār may kiss his wife, have intimate physical contact with her, and engage in non-penetrative sexual activity; only intercourse is prohibited.

Those who understood the passage as applying generally to intercourse and lesser forms of intimacy disagreed about a man who kisses his wife or has intimate physical contact with her during the course of his expiation, before completing it. Asbagh and Sahnūn said that he should seek Allah’s forgiveness and that nothing further is required of him. Mutarrif said that he must begin the expiation anew.