The Quran

Preface

ما جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِرَجُلٍ مِن قَلبَينِ في جَوفِهِ ۚ وَما جَعَلَ أَزواجَكُمُ اللّائي تُظاهِرونَ مِنهُنَّ أُمَّهاتِكُم ۚ وَما جَعَلَ أَدعِياءَكُم أَبناءَكُم ۚ ذٰلِكُم قَولُكُم بِأَفواهِكُم ۖ وَاللَّهُ يَقولُ الحَقَّ وَهُوَ يَهدِي السَّبيلَ

Ali Quli Qarai

Allah has not put two hearts within any man, nor has He made your wives whom you repudiate by ẓihār¹ your mothers, nor has he made your adopted sons your sons. These are mere utterances of your mouths. But Allah speaks the truth and He guides to the way.

A kind of repudiation of the marital relationship among pre-Islamic Arabs which took place on a husband’s saying to his wife ‘Be as my mother’s back’ (ẓahr; hence the derivative ẓihār). Concerning the revocation of such a divorce and the atonement prescribed, see 58:1-4.