Does Divorce Occur When Someone Says His Wife “To Me, You Are Like My Mother Or My Sister?”

Does divorce occur when someone says his wife “to me, you are like my mother or my sister?”

If someone who said to his wife ”to me, you are like my mother or my sister” meant divorce with these expressions, then his wife becomes divorced from him with a bain talaq (irrevocable divorce). However, if they had not had two divorces earlier, they may become a couple again, if they wish so. In that case, if there isn’t any separation occured earlier, their marriage continues with two bonds of matrimony.

If the said person meant to perform a zihar, then he must pay a zihar kaffarah.

Zihar occurs when a man likens her wife to a woman to whom he is forbidden to marrry such as his mother, sister, aunt, etc., or when he considers his wife’s limbs (back, abdomen, calf, etc.) as if they belong to someone, whose limbs it is haram to look at.

On the other hand, no kaffarah is necessary if someone says “You are like my mother/sister” to his wife out of love and respect although it is makruh (Mawsili, al-Ikhtiyar, III, 229; Jazari, al-Madhahib al-Arba’ah, IV, 438).

One also is not required to do anything if he utters such an expression for no reason but a habit (Mawsili, al-Ikhtiyar, III, 230).

Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWA