What is the required number of atonements (kaffarah) if a man makes a statement of Zihar concerning every woman he marries, and subsequently marries several women?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Zihar
Primary text
If a man states, "Every woman I marry, she is to me like the back of my mother [Zihar]", and then marries women, only one atonement is required if he intends to resume marital relations, regardless of whether he married them in a single contract or in separate contracts. This is the position affirmed by Ahmad, 'Urwah, and Ishaq, because it constitutes a single oath (yamin), requiring a single expiation, analogous to someone performing Zihar upon four women with a single phrase. The evidence rests upon the principle that a singular pronouncement demanding expiation results in a singular expiation, similar to a single oath sworn by God.
Supporting text
There is an alternative view that an atonement is due for each contract. If he marries two women in one contract and intends to resume relations, one atonement is due. If he subsequently marries another and intends to resume relations, a second atonement is due. This view is narrated from Ishaq because the third woman introduced a new contract establishing the condition for Zihar, and seeking to resume relations after expiating for the first two necessitates a separate atonement for her, as if initiating Zihar anew.