Saeed bin Amr asked Qasim bin Muhammad: If a person says to a woman, "If I marry you, you are divorced"? Qasim bin Muhammad said that a man, during the time of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), said regarding a woman that if he married her, she would be to him like the back of his mother. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered that if the man married that woman, he should not have intercourse with her until he gave the expiation for zihar.

It reached Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, that a man asked Qasim bin Muhammad and Sulaiman bin Yasar: What if a person pronounces zihar to a woman before marriage? Both of them said: If that person marries that woman, he should not have intercourse with her until he has offered the expiation for zihar.

Urwah bin Zubair said: If a person pronounces zihar to four women at the same time, then only one expiation will be required of him.

Hazrat Rabee'ah bin Abdur Rahman said the same.
Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said: In my view, the ruling is also the same.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In the expiation for zihar, Allah the Exalted has said: "Those among you who do zihar to their wives must free a slave before having intercourse. If a slave is not available, then they must fast for two consecutive months before having intercourse. If they are unable to do that, then they must feed sixty needy people."

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If a person pronounces zihar to his wife several times in different sittings, only one expiation will be obligatory upon him. However, if he pronounces zihar once and then pays the expiation, and then pronounces zihar again, then another expiation will become obligatory.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If a person performs zihar and then has intercourse with the woman before offering the expiation, only one expiation will be obligatory upon him. Now, until he gives the expiation, he should remain separate from the woman and seek forgiveness from Allah. Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that I have heard this as good.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In zihar, likening (one’s wife) to a mahram by breastfeeding or a mahram by lineage are both the same.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that there is no expiation of zihar upon women.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Allah the Exalted has said: "Those who declare zihar from their wives and then go back on what they said." This means that after zihar, if a man wants to keep his wife and have relations with her, then Allah the Exalted has made expiation obligatory upon him. But if after zihar he divorces his wife and does not keep her, then there is no expiation. If after divorce he marries her again, he should not have relations with her until he gives the expiation for zihar.