Those of you who divorce their wives by Zihar (calling them to be like their mothers) should know that they are not their mothers. Their mothers are only those who gave birth to them. Surely the words they utter are absurd and false. Allah could punish them for this but He forgave them, surely Allah is All-Pardoning, All-Forgiving.
Meaning:-
Zihar is a term denoting a custom of the Arabs in the days of ignorance. In case of disagreement with their wives they used to say to them, “You are for me like the back of my mother.” After saying this, they used to take their wives as their real mother in being prohibited for them, and the ties of marriage were held to have been broken for good.
absurd: wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappropriate.