Zechariah.” There is also the reading wakaffalahā Zakariyyā (“He entrusted her to Zechariah”), with the f doubled. Those who adopt this reading explain that Allah entrusted her to him—that is, He assigned her care to him through the lot drawn in his favour and the sign He showed those who disputed his claim. When Zechariah and the other claimants disputed which of them should care for her, they cast lots by throwing their shafts into the River Jordan. Zechariah’s shaft remained stationary in the water, as though embedded in mud, while the others’ shafts were carried away. Allah made this a sign that he had the strongest claim among those contending for her care. It is also said that Zechariah’s shaft moved upstream while the others’ shafts floated downstream. The shafts with which they cast lots were the pens they used to write the Torah. This is the meaning of His words:
“You were not with them when they cast their pens to determine which of them should care for Mary, nor were you with them when they disputed.” [Āl ʿImrān: 44]
Zechariah had told them, “I have a greater right to care for her than you, because her sister—or her maternal aunt—is my wife.” Accounts differ on this point: some say that his wife, the mother of John, was Mary’s maternal aunt; others say that she was her sister. Allah therefore awarded her care to Zechariah because her sister or maternal aunt was his wife.
Our revealed Law follows the same principle, for “the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, awarded custody of the daughter of Hamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib to Jaʿfar ibn Abī Tālib when ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib, Jaʿfar and Zayd ibn Hāritha disputed her custody. ʿAlī said, ‘She is my paternal uncle’s daughter, and the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is my wife, so I have the greater right to her.’ Jaʿfar said, ‘She is my paternal uncle’s daughter, and her maternal aunt is my wife, so I have the greater right to her.’ Zayd said, ‘She is my brother’s daughter, and I undertook the arduous journey for her.’ He had left her when Hamza was killed, then brought her back.” Accordingly, our school holds that when a woman caring for a child is married to one of the child’s guardians, she has a stronger claim to custody than all the other guardians, even if her husband is more distantly related than they are.
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It was because she was an orphan that Zechariah undertook her care: her mother had died after her father, while she was still a young child.
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As for the Sunnah, one example is “the statement of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to the woman divorced by Abū al-Tufayl, when she said to him, ‘Indeed,