Is a man's saying to his wife, "You resemble my mother or my aunt in terms of face," considered ẓihār and does it necessitate expiation, and must one who has committed ẓihār refrain from conjugal relations with his wife for three months?

Likening a man's wife to his mother in a specific characteristic is not zhihar, for zhihar occurs with an explicit verbal declaration like "You are to me as the back of my mother," or through an indirect expression (kinayah) accompanied by intention. So, if someone says, "You are to me as my mother," and intends zhihar, then it is zhihar. But if he intends honor or another characteristic, then it is not zhihar. And whoever commits zhihar and wishes to return [to his wife], he must perform the kaffarah (expiation) for zhihar, and it is unlawful for him to have intercourse with his wife before performing the expiation, based on the Almighty's saying: "then [he must free] a slave before they touch each other," and "then two consecutive months of fasting before they touch each other."