Volume Thirty-Four
From the Book of Zihār to Fighting Rebels

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

All praise belongs to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet.

Chapter on Zihār

Shaykh al-Islām Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah sanctify his soul—was asked about a man who said to his wife, “You are to me like my mother and my sister.”

He answered:

If he meant, “You are to me like my mother and my sister in the respect I accord you,” then nothing is required of him. But if he intended to liken her to his mother and sister with regard to “marital relations,” this constitutes zihār, and he is subject to its requirements. If he keeps her as his wife, he must not have intercourse with her until he has offered the prescribed expiation for zihār.

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was also asked about a man who married and wanted to consummate the marriage on a particular night, saying, “Otherwise, she will be to me like my mother and my sister.” She was not ready for him at the time he had requested her. Does a divorce take effect?