Does a man declaring to his wife, 'You are like that woman,' after he has sworn an oath of non-cohabitation against his wife, establish an oath of non-cohabitation against his other wife?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of the Oath of Abstention (Ila')

Book 41 · Issue 3 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

If a man swears an oath of non-cohabitation against his wife, and then another man says to his own wife, 'You are like that woman' (referring to the first wife regarding the oath), the speaker is not deemed to have taken an oath of non-cohabitation against his wife. The reasoning is that the statement is not explicit regarding the vow (qasm), and therefore it does not establish an oath of non-cohabitation, similar to a situation where the comparison was omitted entirely.

Supporting text

The companions of the opinion (Ashab al-Ra'y) maintain that the speaker is deemed to have taken an oath of non-cohabitation.