She therefore becomes forbidden to him by reason of the divorce, and if he later remarries her he may not have intercourse with her until he has offered the expiation.

If he declares, “Every woman I marry is to me like my mother’s back,” Mālik holds that ẓihār is incurred—unlike an equivalent formula of divorce—because the ban created by ẓihār can be dissolved through expiation, whereas the ban created by divorce cannot. In this case one single expiation is enough to lift the prohibition.

Whoever says to his wife, “You are to me like my mother’s back unless I do such-and-such,” must abstain from conjugal relations until he has carried out that act. By contrast, if he says, “You are to me like my mother’s back if I do such-and-such,” he is not required to refrain from his wife at all unless and until he actually commits the act in question.

There is a difference in the reports from Mālik regarding a man who says to his wife, “You are to me like my mother’s back if I have intercourse with you.” One narration states that no expiation is due and that it is not permissible for him to expiate pre-emptively; he may only do so after intercourse, when the oath has been violated—and this is the sound opinion. Another narration claims that once he firmly intends to have intercourse he may expiate before doing so, but this has no weight.

In every case the man who has pronounced ẓihār must not approach his wife, touch her, or derive any pleasure from her in any way until he has performed the expiation. If he nevertheless has intercourse with her before expiating, he should seek Allah’s forgiveness and then refrain from further relations until he has paid a single expiation.