The ruling on a man saying “my wife, my mother, and my sister” in a letter

The questioner:
This questioner says: I wrote a reply to my wife beginning with “To my wife, my mother, and my sister,” and I realized at the end that I made a mistake. Please advise me on what I should do? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh:
What is the mistake in saying “to my wife, my mother, and my sister”? The matter is easy. If she had committed a sin, that would be what is required, but this is not called a sin; it is a looseness in expression. There is no doubt that one should say “to my compassionate mother” or “so-and-so” or “the mother of so-and-so,” and “my wife and my sister.” As for placing the wife first out of looseness or forgetfulness, it does not wrong anyone; there is nothing wrong with it. Even if it were intentional, there is nothing wrong with it, yes, because this is a matter in which leniency is permitted.

The questioner:
Perhaps he meant that he referred to his wife as “my mother and my sister and my wife,” meaning one person.

The Shaykh:
No, no, that is not my intention. I put your wife before my mother. I put “my wife and my mother.” I did not say “my mother and my wife.”