What is zihar and what is its expiation? A- Zihar is that a man says to his wife, “You are to me like the back of my mother” meaning “You are prohibited to me, which means that “I have got nothing to do with you.” If a man makes such a statement to his wife, she becomes prohibited to him and it is not permissible for him to have intercourse with her or have any physical enjoyment with her except after expiating for what he has said. The expiation for zihar is to be carried out according to “the arrangement” specified by the Shariah which means that the husband in question is not allowed to switch to the next item in this process of expiation except when he is not able to do the previous one, as follows: First of all, he is to free a believing slave. If he cannot do so, he is to observe fasting for two successive months without approaching his wife physically. If he cannot do so, he is to feed 60 poor people. Q- Can a person in the midst of prayer ask Allah to forgive him if he hears the imam reciting a verse speaking about Allah's forgiveness, for example? A- Whenever the Muslim hears a verse mentioning Allah's mercy, he may ask Allah for His mercy; if he hears a verse dealing with Allah's forgiveness, he may pray Allah to forgive him: and whenever he hears a verse speaking about Hellfire, he may supplicate Allah to protect him from it, and so on. This is because the Prophet (peace be upon him) would do that as narrated by Muslim on the authority of Hudhaifa Bin Al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him). The Muslim may do that whether inside or outside the congregational prayer. And Allah knows best. – Extracted from 500 Questions and Answers on Islamic Jurisprudence, compiled and translated by Muhammad Abdul
