Zihar

Sa'id bin Amr bin Sulaym relates: I asked al-Qasim bin Muhammad about a man who said (before marriage): "If I marry so-and-so, she is divorced." He related (citing an earlier ruling) that a man came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "I have said: 'If I marry so-and-so, she will be zihar for me (like my mother's back).'" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "If you marry her and then wish to keep her in your marriage, you must pay the expiation (for that statement)."

It is narrated from the eminent Successor Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man made zihar from his wife (that is, declared her unlawful to himself by likening her to his mother) on the condition that it last until the month of Ramadan ended, or the narrator said that he made zihar from her for the whole of Ramadan. Then he came to his wife at night (for intercourse); after this the narrator related the complete long hadith by a mursal route.
This narration concerns the legal rulings of a temporary zihar (zihar for a fixed period), and in scholarly terms it is a mursal narration, in which an eminent Successor relates the incident or ruling directly without naming any Companion.

It is narrated from Abu Yazid al-Madini (may Allah have mercy on him) that a woman of the tribe of Banu Bayadah sent the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) one wasq of barley (or the narrator Ayyub is unsure whether he said half a wasq). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave that grain to the man who had made zihar from his wife and commanded him: "Give this in charity (as expiation), for one sa' of barley suffices in place of every half sa' of wheat."
According to the imams and commentators, this hadith establishes that in charity and expiations the quantity of different grains may differ according to their value and nutritional benefit, as here the quantity of barley has been fixed at double that of wheat.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that a man made zihar from his wife (that is, declared her unlawful to himself). Then one night he saw her in the moonlight and she appeared very attractive to him, so he had intercourse with her (before paying the legal expiation). Then he came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him of the situation, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Has Allah Almighty not said: 'before they touch one another' [Surah al-Mujadilah: 3]?" The man said: "(O Messenger of Allah!) I saw her and she pleased me greatly (so I could not control my desire)." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Now refrain (from relations) until you have properly paid the expiation."
From this blessed hadith we learn the legal principle that it is religiously forbidden for a man who has made zihar to have sexual relations with his wife before paying the expiation, and if he has intercourse before the expiation he should repent and must refrain from such boldness again until he pays the expiation.