Chapter: Custody

Custody means protecting the child, for the most part, from anything harmful and attending to his needs: washing his head and clothes, oiling him, applying kohl to his eyes, fastening him in the cradle and similar tasks, and rocking him to sleep.

Those with the strongest claim to custody are: the mother—even if she asks for a wage equal to what another carer would take, despite the presence of a volunteer—then her mothers, the nearest then the next nearest; next the father, then his mothers; then the grandfather, then his mothers; after that the full sister, followed by the uterine sister, then the consanguine sister; then the maternal aunt who is a full sister, the uterine maternal aunt, and the consanguine maternal aunt; then the paternal aunts in the same order; next the maternal aunts of the child’s mother, then those of his father, then the paternal aunts of his father; followed by the daughters of his brothers and sisters; then the daughters of his paternal uncles and aunts; and lastly the remaining agnatic relatives, each according to closeness.

Custody is not granted to anyone who is enslaved, to an openly flagrant sinner, to a non-Muslim over a Muslim child, or to a woman married to a man who is not a close relative of the child.