Second: Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn said, “If the father takes another wife and leaves the child with this co-wife, who neither looks after the child’s interests—indeed, she may even harm her and neglect her needs—while the mother cares for the child and causes her no harm, then custody is categorically the mother’s, for the child’s welfare is the very purpose of custody.”

Third: Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī said, “The well-known view in the school is that a girl’s custody, once she has completed seven years, passes to her father; the second reported view is that it remains with her mother. Both opinions apply as long as each parent fulfills the duties that are binding upon him or her. Should either parent neglect those obligations, his or her right to guardianship falls away and the other parent becomes the designated custodian.”