Author: Imran Ayub Lahori
If a husband says to his wife: “You are to me like the back of my mother” or “I have performed ẓihār from you” or uses any similar expression, it becomes obligatory for him to free a slave before touching her.
The term ẓihār comes from the verb ظَاهَرَ يُظَاهِرُ (mufāʿalah / fiʿāl) meaning “to help”.
[Al-Munjid: p. 530]
In al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ, ẓihār is defined as a man saying to his wife:
انت على كظهر أمى
"You are to me like the back of my mother."
The back is specifically mentioned because it is the main place for riding, and the wife is compared in this way as a metaphor for marital closeness.
[Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī: 4/462; Fatḥ al-Bārī: 10/542]
In reality, ẓihār likens a permissible back to a forbidden back, and by consensus of the fuqahā’, if a man says “You are to me like the back of my mother” to his wife, ẓihār occurs.
① Explicit (Ṣarīḥ):
E.g., أنت على كظهر أمى, فرجك على كظهر أمى, بطنك على كظهر أمى, etc.
② Allusive (Kināyah):
E.g., أنت على مثل أمى (You are like my mother to me).
Al-Shawkānī’s stated order differs from the Qur’ānic order. The Qur’ān prescribes:
[al-Mujādilah: 3–4]
This order is also confirmed in the ḥadīth of Salamah ibn Ṣakhr al-Bayāḍī (رضي الله عنه).
[Ḥasan: Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 1933; Abū Dāwūd: 2213]
The sequence must be followed; one cannot fast or feed the poor if able to free a slave.
[Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī: 17/185]
The Qur’ān says:
فَصِيَامُ شَهْرَيْنِ مُتَتَابِعَيْنِ (two consecutive months)
It is not necessary to feed all sixty at once; it can be done in intervals.
Definition of Ẓihār
If a husband says to his wife: “You are to me like the back of my mother” or “I have performed ẓihār from you” or uses any similar expression, it becomes obligatory for him to free a slave before touching her.
- If he cannot free a slave, he must feed sixty (60) poor people.
- If he cannot do that, he must fast for two consecutive months.
The term ẓihār comes from the verb ظَاهَرَ يُظَاهِرُ (mufāʿalah / fiʿāl) meaning “to help”.
[Al-Munjid: p. 530]
In al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ, ẓihār is defined as a man saying to his wife:
انت على كظهر أمى
"You are to me like the back of my mother."
The back is specifically mentioned because it is the main place for riding, and the wife is compared in this way as a metaphor for marital closeness.
[Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī: 4/462; Fatḥ al-Bārī: 10/542]
In reality, ẓihār likens a permissible back to a forbidden back, and by consensus of the fuqahā’, if a man says “You are to me like the back of my mother” to his wife, ẓihār occurs.
Types of Wording in Ẓihār
① Explicit (Ṣarīḥ):
E.g., أنت على كظهر أمى, فرجك على كظهر أمى, بطنك على كظهر أمى, etc.
- Ẓihār occurs by agreement.
- Difference of opinion exists regarding using other maḥārim (e.g., daughter, sister, paternal/maternal aunt) in comparison.
- Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Awzāʿī: Analogy applies; ẓihār occurs with other maḥārim too.
- Majority: Exclusive to the mother, as the Qur’ān only mentions mothers.
- Preferred view: Majority opinion is correct.
[Nayl al-Awṭār: 4/356; Fatḥ al-Bārī: 10/542; Tafsīr al-Lubāb: 18/519; Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī: 17/177–178; al-Sayl al-Jarrār: 2/415]
② Allusive (Kināyah):
E.g., أنت على مثل أمى (You are like my mother to me).
- Could mean honor/respect or prohibition.
- Depends on intention—if intended as ẓihār, it applies; otherwise, it does not.
[al-Sayl al-Jarrār: 2/417]
Order of Expiation (Kaffārah)
Al-Shawkānī’s stated order differs from the Qur’ānic order. The Qur’ān prescribes:
- Freeing a slave
- If unable, fasting two consecutive months
- If unable, feeding sixty poor people
[al-Mujādilah: 3–4]
This order is also confirmed in the ḥadīth of Salamah ibn Ṣakhr al-Bayāḍī (رضي الله عنه).
[Ḥasan: Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 1933; Abū Dāwūd: 2213]
Maintaining the Sequence
The sequence must be followed; one cannot fast or feed the poor if able to free a slave.
[Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī: 17/185]
Does the Slave Have to Be a Believer?
- Abū Ḥanīfah: Non-Muslim slave suffices; Qur’ān mentions raqabah without restriction.
- Shāfiʿī: Must be a believer, linking it to the restriction in the expiation for killing.
- Preferred: Belief is not required, as the causes (asbāb) of freeing a slave in ẓihār and in killing differ, so the unrestricted term is not carried over.
[al-Wajīz: p. 286; Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt: pp. 32–33; Irshād al-Fuḥūl: pp. 145–146]
Continuity of Fasting
The Qur’ān says:
فَصِيَامُ شَهْرَيْنِ مُتَتَابِعَيْنِ (two consecutive months)
- Breaking the fast without a valid excuse (illness/travel) requires restarting.
- Preferred view: Missing due to illness or travel does not require restarting.
[Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī: 17/184]
Intercourse Before Expiation
- Prohibited before completing freeing a slave or completing the two months of fasting.
- For feeding the poor, no such condition exists—intercourse before completing the feeding does not require restarting from the first person.
Amount of Food Per Poor Person
- Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr: Best to give each poor person two mudd of food.
- Abū Ḥanīfah: One ṣāʿ (~2.5 kg dates, corn, barley, raisins) or half ṣāʿ of wheat.
- Shāfiʿī: One mudd per person.
- Preferred: Give enough food to satiate the person.
It is not necessary to feed all sixty at once; it can be done in intervals.
- Mālik, Shāfiʿī: Feeding less than sixty does not suffice.
- Abū Ḥanīfah: Feeding one person daily until the number reaches sixty is valid.
- Aḥmad: Even if only one poor person is found, feeding him sixty equivalent meals is valid.
[al-Ḥāwī by al-Māwardī: 10/513; al-Mabsūṭ: 7/17; al-Inṣāf: 9/230; Tafsīr al-Lubāb: 18/528]
