He answered:

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds.

If, by saying, “She is like my mother,” he means that she conceals his faults and neither disgraces nor reproaches him, just as a mother treats her child, then he is to be disciplined for this statement, but his wife does not become forbidden to him. For ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him—heard a man address his wife as “My sister,” so he disciplined him—though if he was unaware, he would not be disciplined for this, even if he deserved punishment for the wrongdoing he had committed—and said, “Is she your sister?” A man should therefore not liken his wife to his mother.

If, however, by “She is like my mother to me,” he means refraining from intercourse, sexual enjoyment, and other acts forbidden with one’s mother—as though saying, “She is like my mother, with whom sexual enjoyment is impermissible”—then he is “one who has pronounced zihār” and is subject to the obligations this entails. He may not have intercourse with her until he offers the “expiation for zihār”: freeing a slave; if he cannot find one, fasting for two consecutive months; and if he is unable to do so, feeding sixty needy people. Once he has done this, intercourse becomes lawful for him by the consensus of the Muslims—unless he intends, “She is forbidden to me like my mother.” In that case, he is regarded as having pronounced zihār according to the schools of Abū Hanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad.

A disagreement has been reported within Mālik’s school as to whether a threefold divorce takes effect through these words. The unquestionably correct view is that no divorce takes effect thereby. By their unanimous agreement, intercourse is not lawful for him until he offers the expiation, and no divorce takes effect through these words. Allah knows best.