He says: For a period of about eight years, I committed zihar against my current wife. Due to the influence of Satan and anger, I told her, "You are like my mother."

The questioner : He says: For a period of about eight years, I committed zihar against my current wife. Due to the influence of Satan and anger, I told her, "You are like my mother." I went to one of the scholars known for their faith, explained the story to him, and he explained to me that I must pay the expiation for zihar mentioned in the Noble Qur'an, which is freeing a slave, or fasting for two consecutive months, or feeding sixty poor people. Because I was a poor man that year and did not have the means to feed sixty poor people, and because I was unable to free a slave and unable to fast for two consecutive months, I had intercourse with my wife throughout this period and was blessed with five children, both male and female. I am a young man who prays, fasts, and is relatively educated, but these days I am living in great fear and terror, fearing that this is due to the anger of Allah against me because of that zihar. I recall that two days after I had intercourse with my wife, I bought sixty loaves of bread and distributed them to the neighbors. What should I do to please Allah, the Exalted? I am living a life of despair and regret over what I have neglected regarding the rights of Allah. Allah the Exalted knows how afraid and terrified I am. I ask for guidance to an action that will relieve me and satisfy my conscience. May Allah guide you to what is good?

The Shaykh : You owe nothing regarding your having intercourse with your wife before you paid the expiation, as long as you were in a state of financial inability.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : In fact, many scholars hold that it is permissible for a man to have intercourse with his wife if the obligation upon him is feeding, due to his inability to fast and the absence of a slave, because Allah the Exalted said: and He did not say: "before they touch each other." This indicates that whenever the expiation is feeding, it is permissible to touch his wife before he feeds. Then, you mentioned that you are poor, but the question remains: do the sixty loaves of bread you fed to the neighbors suffice to feed sixty poor people? And were the neighbors at that time among the poor? This is a matter you should verify. If the matter was appropriate and these loaves were sufficient to feed these sixty people, and these sixty were poor, then your conscience is clear. If that is not the case, then the most cautious course for you is to feed sixty poor people. Yes.