Arabs used to take such oaths frequently, and as the period of suspension was not limited, the wife had sometimes to pass her whole life in bondage, having neither the position of a wife nor that of a divorced woman free to marry elsewhere. The Holy Qur’ān reformed this state of things by commanding that if the husband did not reassert conjugal relations within four months, the wife should be divorced: “Those who swear that they will not go into their wives, should wait four months; then if they go back, Allāh is surely Forgiving, Merciful. And if they resolve on a divorce, then Allāh is surely Hearing, Knowing” (2:226, 227).

Ẓihār

The word ẓihār is derived from ẓahr meaning back. An Arab in the days of ignorance would say to his wife antī ‘alayya ka-ẓahrī ummī, i.e. thou art to me as the back of my mother. This was technically called ẓihār. No sooner were these words pronounced than the relation between husband and wife ended as by a divorce, but the woman was not at liberty to leave the husband’s house, and remained as a deserted wife. One of the Muslims, Aus ibn Ṣāmit, treated his wife Khaula in a similar manner. The wronged woman came to the Holy Prophet and complained of her husband’s ill-treatment. The Holy Prophet told her that he was unable to interfere. She went back disappointed and it was then that he received the following revelation: “Allāh indeed has heard the plea of her who pleads with thee about her husband and complains to Allāh, and Allāh hears the contentions of both of you; surely Allāh is Hearing, Seeing. As for those of you who put away their wives by calling them their mothers — they are not their mothers. None are their mothers save those who gave them birth; and they utter indeed a hateful word and a lie” (58:1,2). The man who resorted to this practice was ordered as a punishment to free a slave; or if he could not find one, then to fast for two successive months, and if unable to do that, to feed sixty poor people (58:3, 4).