Those who separate themselves from their wives by pronouncing, ‘To me you are like my mother’s back,’ must concede that they are not their mothers; none are their mothers except those who gave birth to them—surely they utter an evil word and a lie. God is pardoning, forgiving.1
Footnotes
[1]
Before Islam, it was the custom in Arabia that if a man said to his wife, ‘To me you are like my mother’s back’ she was for ever forbidden for that man. This was called zihar.