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Is it permissible for the wife to call her husband "Papa" and for the husband to call his wife "Mama"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A man should not address his wife by terms that would make her forbidden to him, such as his mother, sister, or daughter. This is because it resembles zihar (a pre-Islamic form of divorce by likening one's wife to a forbidden female relative). Abu Dawud narrated that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, disliked a man saying to his wife, "O my sister." Even though the hadith is weak, one should avoid this, even in jest.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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