Chapter on ẓihār (declaring one’s wife unlawful by likening her to a prohibited female relative)

If a husband who possesses the legal right to divorce pronounces ẓihār, the pronouncement is binding upon him with respect to every wife he has. According to Mālik, the same ruling applies to any of his female slaves whom he is lawfully permitted to approach sexually: should he declare ẓihār concerning any one of them, it is likewise binding.

If a man utters ẓihār while intoxicated, the ruling still takes effect, and the same is true for a mute man, provided his intention can be understood. A person placed under guardianship is likewise bound by his ẓihār, so long as he has reached puberty and is not insane.

The basic formula of ẓihār is for the husband to say to his wife: “You are to me like my mother’s back.” Allah—glorified be He—mentioned the back, and Allah knows best, as a euphemism for the belly and what it conceals.

If the husband says, “You are to me like my mother,” without mentioning the back, or says, “You are to me the same as my mother,” then his stated intention governs the ruling. Should he intend ẓihār, it is treated as ẓihār; if he intends divorce, Mālik counts it as an irrevocable divorce. If he intends neither divorce nor ẓihār, the statement is deemed ẓihār by default.

An explicit declaration of ẓihār cannot be construed as a divorce, just as it cannot