Chapter on Custody
(1) Custody is obligatory for the protection of a minor, a mentally deficient person, or one who is insane.

Those with the strongest claim to it are: the mother; then her mothers, the nearer followed by the more remote; then the father; then his mothers in the same order; then the paternal grandfather; then his mothers likewise; then the full sister, followed by the maternal half-sister and the paternal half-sister; then the maternal aunt, followed by the paternal aunt; then the daughters of his brothers and sisters; then the daughters of his paternal uncles and aunts; thereafter the remaining agnates, the nearest and then the next; then the uterine relatives; and finally the judge.

If the person entitled to custody refuses it, or is unfit, it passes to the next in line.

Custody is not granted to a slave, to an openly immoral person, or to a non-Muslim (2) in relation to a Muslim child; nor to a woman married to a man unrelated to the child; nor to a non-maḥram once a girl has completed seven years. Whenever the impediment is removed, the right returns.

If one of the parents intends to move to a distant land to live there, the father has priority; otherwise the mother does.

When a boy reaches seven years, he is given the choice between his parents.

A child is not left with anyone who fails to protect and nurture him properly.

After a girl turns seven, her father has the stronger claim to her (3) until she is married, while the mother retains the greater right to nurse her child—even if she charges the prevailing wage while another woman offers to do so free of charge.