Surah al-Mujādilah

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

[Surah al-Mujādilah (58): verse 2]

“Those of you who pronounce zihār against their wives—their wives are not their mothers. Their mothers are only those who gave birth to them. They certainly utter reprehensible words and falsehood. Yet Allah is indeed Pardoning, Forgiving.” (2)

If it is asked: What do you say about the words of a man pronouncing zihār, “You are to me like my mother’s back”? Is this a performative utterance or a factual statement? If you say it is a performative utterance, that would be untenable on several grounds.

One is that a performative utterance cannot be judged true or false, whereas Allah, glorified be He, has declared their words false here in three places.

The first is His statement, “Their wives are not their mothers.” He thus negates what they asserted, which is precisely what it means to declare a statement false. If a man divorces his wife, it would not be appropriate to say, “She is not divorced from him.” The second is His statement, “They certainly utter reprehensible words,” whereas a performative utterance cannot be