of oaths. Expiation is mandatory by that, like all other oaths. And because it is an oath that entails abandoning intercourse, its expiation is not mandatory except through it, just like Ila'.

1311 - Issue: He said: (And if he says to a foreign woman [non-wife]: "You are to me like the back of my mother," he shall not have intercourse with her if he marries her until he provides the expiation).

The summation of this is that Zihar from a foreign woman is valid, whether he says that to a specific woman or says: "All women are to me like the back of my mother." Whether he pronounces it absolutely or attaches it to marriage, by saying: "Every woman I marry is to me like the back of my mother." Whenever he marries the one he performed Zihar against, he shall not have intercourse with her until he performs expiation. This is narrated from Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, and this is the opinion of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Urwah, Ata', al-Hasan, Malik, and Ishaq. It is possible that the ruling of Zihar does not become established before the marriage. This is the opinion of al-Thawri, Abu Hanifah, and al-Shafi'i. This is also narrated from Ibn Abbas, based on the saying of Allah (the Exalted): {And those who perform Zihar from their wives} (2). A foreign woman is not of his wives. Also, because Zihar is an oath, the Sharia set its ruling to be restricted to his wives, so its ruling does not apply to a foreign woman, like Ila'; for Allah (the Exalted) said: {And those who perform Zihar from their wives}, just as He said: {For those who perform Ila' from their wives} (3). And because she is not a wife, Zihar from her is not valid, like his slave-woman. And because he forbade what is [already] forbidden, so nothing becomes binding upon him, just as if he said: "You are unlawful." And because it is a type of prohibition, it cannot precede the marriage, like divorce.