Hadith 3368

(1) The statement: "If a man declares his wife unlawful for him, it is an oath for which he must make expiation..."—Scholars differed regarding the wording of tahrim (declaring unlawful). Some said it is not an oath. If a man says to his wife, "You are unlawful to me," or "I have made you unlawful," and he intends divorce, it is a divorce. If he intends zihar (declaring her like his mother’s back), it is zihar. If he intends to prohibit her essence or is vague, he must make expiation for the oath by the wording itself. If he says this to his female slave and intends emancipation, she is emancipated. If he intends to prohibit her essence or is vague, he must make expiation for the oath. If he says to food, "I have made it unlawful for myself," there is no consequence. Ash-Shafi’i held this view. If he did not intend anything, there are two opinions from Ash-Shafi’i: one is that he must make expiation for the oath, and the other is that there is no consequence, as it is meaningless and does not entail any rulings. A group held that it is an oath. If a man says this to his wife or female slave, he does not owe expiation unless he has intercourse with her, just as if he swore not to have intercourse with her. If he prohibits food, it is like swearing not to eat it, so he owes no expiation unless he eats it. This was the view of Abu Hanifah and his companions, as mentioned in Al-Khazin. This narration supports our view. Al-Kamalayn states: *"Our Imam Abu Hanifah used the verse, 'Allah has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths...' (66:2), as evidence that declaring the lawful unlawful is an oath, as Allah called tahrim an oath, necessitating expiation according to Abu Hanifah, contrary to Ash-Shafi’i. It was responded that the obligation of expiation does not necessarily mean it is an oath, as it is possible that Allah used the term 'oath' metaphorically. ‘Abdur-Razzaq narrated from Ash-Sha’bi that a man swore an oath along with tahrim, and Allah rebuked him for the tahrim and prescribed expiation for the oath. Qatadah said, 'He declared her unlawful, and it was an oath.' Ash-Sha’bi’s statement aligns with Ash-Shafi’i’s view, while Qatadah’s supports our view, which is the apparent meaning of the Qur’an."*