What is the ruling on someone who said to his wife: "You are forbidden, and forbidden, and forbidden to me if you go to your family; you are forbidden to me," then fed sixty poor people as an expiation for ẓihār, believing it to be an expiation for an oath? And is what occurred between them afterwards considered adultery?

The scholars differed concerning swearing an oath by deeming one's wife unlawful. The preponderant opinion, in our view, is that a distinction is made based on whether the intent was divorce, ẓihār, or an oath. If the husband intended, by deeming his wife unlawful, to prohibit sexual intercourse with her, then he must offer expiation for an oath (kaffārat yamīn). If the husband fed sixty poor people with the intention of ẓihār expiation, this is not sufficient for ẓihār expiation, because it is sequential, and what was incumbent upon him was to fast for sixty days. This is also not sufficient for the expiation of an oath due to the absence of the intention for it. The husband's cohabitation with his wife is not considered zinā (fornication/adultery), but he must offer expiation for an oath, which is feeding ten poor people or clothing them. The husband must beware of using words of prohibition when disagreeing with his wife.