Book of Ẓihār
First Section: The Formulations of Ẓihār

The sources for the ruling on ẓihār are the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

1. The Qur’an:
   The Almighty says,
   “Those who pronounce ẓihār regarding their wives and then retract what they have said must free a slave” (al-Mujādilah 58:3).

2. The Sunnah:
   Khawlah bint Mālik ibn Thaʿlabah reported:
   “My husband, Aws ibn al-Ṣāmit, declared ẓihār against me, so I went to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to complain. The Messenger of Allah persisted in arguing with me, saying, ‘Fear Allah, for he is your cousin.’ I did not leave until Allah revealed:
   ‘Allah has certainly heard the statement of the woman who disputes with you concerning her husband and complains to Allah; and Allah hears the conversation between the two of you’ (al-Mujādilah 58:1) and the following verses.
   “The Prophet then said, ‘Let him free a slave.’
   I replied, ‘He cannot afford that.’
   He said, ‘Then let him fast two consecutive months.’
   I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, he is an old man, unable to fast.’
   He said, ‘Then let him feed sixty needy people.’
   I said, ‘He possesses nothing to give in charity.’
   He said, ‘I shall help him with a basket (ʿirq) of dates.’
   I said, ‘And I shall provide another basket.’
   He said, ‘You have done well. Go and feed sixty needy people on his behalf.’”
   Abū Dāwūd recorded this ḥadīth. A similar report is related from Salamah ibn Ṣakhr al-Bayāḍī—may Allah be pleased with him—about the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

Discussion of the foundational principles of ẓihār is arranged under seven chapters:

1. The expressions that constitute ẓihār;
2. The conditions that make expiation obligatory;
3. Those for whom ẓihār is valid;
4. What becomes unlawful for the man who utters it;
5. Whether ẓihār is renewed by a new marriage to the same woman;
6. Whether it can be combined with the oath of īlāʾ;
7. The legal rulings of the ẓihār expiation.

Chapter One: The Formulations of Ẓihār

The jurists agree that if a man says to his wife, “You are to me like the back of my mother,” it counts as ẓihār. They differ, however, when he names a limb other than the back, or invokes the back of another woman who is permanently forbidden to him in marriage besides his mother.
• Mālik held that this too is ẓihār.
• A group of scholars maintained that it does not constitute ẓihār unless the words “back” and “mother” are both mentioned.
• Abū Ḥanīfah said it is ẓihār with the mention of any limb that is forbidden for him to look at.

The root of their disagreement lies in the tension between the literal wording and the underlying meaning. The sense of declaring something forbidden applies equally to the mother and to other women with whom marriage is perpetually unlawful.