or "like my mother." It is the same. This is the view of Abu Hanifa, and it is one of the two opinions of Al-Shafi'i. The second opinion is that if he intends divorce, then it is a divorce. This is the view of Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, except that Abu Yusuf said: "I do not accept his statement in denying the zihar." The reasoning for their view is that his statement "You are to me as the back of my mother" is a divorce when he intends divorce by it, and adding the phrase "like the back of my mother" after that does not negate the divorce, just as if he said, "You are divorced like the back of my mother." Our position is that he has employed explicit wording of zihar, so it is not a divorce, just like the preceding case. Their argument that "prohibition with the intention of divorce is divorce" is not conceded by us. Even if we conceded it, he has interpreted his wording here with explicit zihar through his statement, so acting upon the explicit phrasing of the statement is more appropriate than acting upon the intention.

Section: If he says, "You are divorced like the back of my mother," she becomes divorced, and his statement "like the back of my mother" is discarded; because he brought explicit divorce first and made his statement "like the back of my mother" an attribute for it. If he intended by his saying "like the back of my mother" an emphasis on the divorce, it is not zihar, just as if he had spoken absolutely. If he intended zihar by it, and the divorce was irrevocable (ba'in), it is like zihar from a stranger; because he brought it after her irrevocable separation by divorce. If it were revocable (raj'i), it would be a valid zihar. Al-Qadi mentioned this, and it is the school of Al-Shafi'i; because he brought the wording of zihar upon one who is still a wife. If he intended zihar by his saying "You are divorced," it would not be zihar; because he intended zihar through the explicit wording of divorce. If he says, "You are to me like the back of my mother, divorced," then zihar and divorce occur together, whether the divorce is irrevocable or revocable; because the zihar preceded the divorce.

Section: If he says, "You are to me forbidden," and intends both divorce and zihar together, it is zihar and not divorce; because a single statement cannot be both zihar and divorce, and zihar is more appropriate for this wording, so it is diverted to it. Some of the followers of Al-Shafi'i said: "He is told: Choose whichever you wish." Others among them said: "If he says: I intended divorce and zihar, it is divorce; because he started with it. And if he says: I intended zihar and divorce, it is zihar; because he started with it."