Fatma: Considering both parents were qualified religiously,...

Fatma: Considering both parents were qualified religiously, morally, and financially, and each parent wanted custody of the children, how would Islam normally deal with such cases? Sayyid: Presuming that both parents wanted custody of the children, and both were qualified in the areas you mentioned, the father would attain financial and custodial rights of the children.

There are many reasons as to why Islam has held the father to be the legal guardian of the children —the most critical of which is remarrying. In most cases, after couples divorce they remarry. The chances of a man remarrying with children are much better than a woman with children. As unwarranted as it may be, the children may become an impediment to the woman trying to remarry.

Scholars also take into consideration that if the children are brought into the home of another man they may not be fully accepted. Reasons such as the ones mentioned, are an attempt to preserve and safeguard the children as well as the parents. Fatma: “Mothers shall give suck to their offspring for two whole years if the father desires to complete the term.” (2:233) Is the Qur’an implying that the father has the decisive right of whether or not the mother will nurse the child?

Sayyid: In the original text of the Qur’an, which was written in Arabic, the Qur’an states that both parents must mutually agree to complete the feeding term, not only the father. Fatma: What would be the grounds for the mother to be granted full custodial rights? Sayyid: There are many reasons. For example, any form of cruelty, violence, neglect, or mistreatment of the children on the father’s part would affect this decision.

Furthermore, if the father were morally corrupt, irreligious, or indecent — these would also be decisive factors. Fatma: In some instances where a father has died, the paternal grandfather attempts to claim custodial rights of the children. Does Islam permit the grandfather the right to take possession of the children while the mother is present and capable of raising them?

Sayyid: In the absence of the father, Islam permits only the paternal grandfather, if he chooses, custodial rights of the children. However, if the mother is financially and ethically capable of raising her children, without any form of negligence, then she may petition the Islamic courts or take her case to a religious scholar to secure the custody of her children. Previous…