If a husband says to his wife, "You are forbidden to me," is it like saying, "You are to me like the back of my mother"?

The Shaykh : Now, if a husband says to his wife, "You are forbidden to me," and does not say, "You are to me like the back of my mother," is it like saying, "You are to me like the back of my mother"?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : Why?

The questioner : His mother's back is forbidden, and he said, "Forbidden."

The Shaykh : You also differ, just as the scholars differed before you. Some of them say that if a man says to his wife, "You are forbidden to me," it is like saying, "You are to me like the back of my mother," because both phrases indicate prohibition. However, the correct view is that it is not like saying, "You are to me like the back of my mother," because his wife may be forbidden to him for being menstruating, for example, or for being in a state of ihram, or something similar. Therefore, this is not like the statement, "You are to me like the back of my mother." Thus, if he says to his wife, "You are forbidden to me," and does not intend anything, it is an oath that requires expiation; that is, he only performs the expiation for an oath, and it does not forbid him from having intercourse with her. This is because Allah says: Then He said: This is evidence that if a man forbids something that Allah has made lawful for him, this prohibition is an oath, an oath that requires expiation. The expiation for an oath is feeding ten poor people, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. Whoever cannot find the means to do so must fast for three days. Now, if we ask, what is the ruling on zihar? It is forbidden. The evidence is What is obligatory for the husband if he commits zihar with his wife? He must not touch her until he does what Allah has commanded him to do: he must free a slave. If he cannot find one, he must fast for two consecutive months. If he is unable to do that, he must feed sixty poor people. Now, if a man says to his wife, "You are to me like the back of your sister," this is not zihar according to the stronger position, because the prohibition of his wife's sister for him is not a permanent prohibition, but rather a temporary one. And if a husband says to his wife, "You are forbidden to me," its ruling is the ruling of an oath, and it is not zihar. The evidence is the saying of the Exalted: And this is what he has forbidden that Allah has made lawful for him, for the wife is among his lawful spouses, as the Exalted said: This is what we intended to discuss regarding the first verse, the verse of al-Mujadilah.