What is the ruling if a person performs sexual intercourse while under the prohibition of 'Zihar' before resolving the issue?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of the Oath of Abstention (Ila')
Primary text
If he engages in sexual intercourse, he has committed a sin, and his period of 'Ila' (oath of abstinence) is dissolved. The wife has the right to prevent him from doing so because this specific act of intercourse is forbidden for both of them.
Supporting text
Al-Qadi holds that the wife is obligated to allow the intercourse, and if she prevents it, her right is forfeited because her right pertains to intercourse, and he has offered it to her. By engaging in it, he has fulfilled her right, and the prohibition applies only to him and not to her. However, this is refuted because the act of intercourse is forbidden, and therefore, consent to it is not obligatory, just as consent is not obligatory for intercourse during menstruation or post-natal bleeding. Furthermore, the claim that the prohibition is exclusive to him is false; whenever sexual intercourse becomes forbidden for one party, it becomes forbidden for the other because it is a single act. If it were permissible for the prohibition to apply exclusively to one party, the woman would be exclusively prohibited from intercourse during menstruation, post-natal bleeding, her state of Ihram, and fasting, as these states are specific to her.