he has gone back on what he said.

This clarifies al-Shafi‘i’s view: his intent in pronouncing zihar is prohibition; therefore, if he keeps her within the marriage, he has contradicted his statement and gone back on what he said, so expiation becomes binding upon him. He even held that if a man pronounces zihar concerning his wife whom he has revocably divorced, his zihar is valid, but no expiation is due from him until he takes her back. If he takes her back, he is deemed to have gone back, and expiation becomes binding upon him.

His statement: “then the freeing of a slave before the two touch one another.” What is meant by “touching” is sexual intercourse. Thus, it is not lawful for one who has pronounced zihar to have intercourse with the wife concerning whom he pronounced it until he has made expiation—whether he intends to expiate by emancipating a slave, fasting, or feeding others. According to Malik, however, if he intends to expiate by feeding others, intercourse with her before doing so is permissible for him, because Allah Most High stipulated that emancipation and fasting must occur before sexual contact, whereas concerning feeding He said: “And whoever is unable, then feeding sixty poor persons,” without saying, “before the two touch one another.” According to the others, the unrestricted wording regarding feeding is understood in light of the restricted wording concerning emancipation and fasting.

They also differed over whether acts of intimacy other than intercourse, such as kissing and enjoying one another’s bodies, are forbidden before expiation. Most held that nothing besides intercourse is forbidden. This was the view of al-Hasan, Sufyan al-Thawri, and the stronger of al-Shafi‘i’s two views—just as menstruation prohibits intercourse but not other forms of enjoyment.

Some held that such acts are forbidden, because the term “touching” encompasses all of them. If one who has pronounced zihar has intercourse before making expiation, he has disobeyed Allah Most High, while the expiation remains a debt binding upon him. He may not resume marital relations until he has made expiation, and the intercourse does not require another expiation. Some scholars, however, held that if he has intercourse with her before making expiation, he must offer two expiations.

The expiation for zihar is prescribed in sequence: he must emancipate a believing slave; if he cannot find one, he must fast for two consecutive months. If he deliberately breaks the fast for one day, or fails to form the intention, he must begin the two months anew. If he is unable to fast, he must feed sixty poor persons. We have already mentioned in Surat al-Ma'idah the amount to be given to each poor person (1).