The Ruling on Making Zihar Conditional
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Question:
What is the ruling if a man says to his wife, “If you leave the house, you are to me like the back of my mother”? Does zihar (likening one's wife to a forbidden relative) take effect when the condition is met, and is the expiation obligatory, or is the expiation obligatory merely by his saying it, even if the condition is not met?
Answer:
No, no, the condition is necessary. It is permissible to make zihar conditional. If he says, “If you do such-and-such, you are to me like the back of my mother,” zihar does not occur until she does that thing. This is zihar made conditional. If the condition is met, the conditioned act occurs; if it is not met, there is no zihar. Zihar is like talaq (divorce pronounced by the husband) in that it is permissible to make it conditional. You have read about making talaq conditional, and likewise, it is permissible to make zihar conditional. Yes.
What is the ruling if a man says to his wife, “If you leave the house, you are to me like the back of my mother”? Does zihar (likening one's wife to a forbidden relative) take effect when the condition is met, and is the expiation obligatory, or is the expiation obligatory merely by his saying it, even if the condition is not met?
Answer:
No, no, the condition is necessary. It is permissible to make zihar conditional. If he says, “If you do such-and-such, you are to me like the back of my mother,” zihar does not occur until she does that thing. This is zihar made conditional. If the condition is met, the conditioned act occurs; if it is not met, there is no zihar. Zihar is like talaq (divorce pronounced by the husband) in that it is permissible to make it conditional. You have read about making talaq conditional, and likewise, it is permissible to make zihar conditional. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 141/123 شرح زاد المستقنع/ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (35:45)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.