that every father is better suited than the mother to care for a child who has reached the age of discernment, or that every mother is better suited than the father. Rather, some fathers may be better suited, and some mothers may be better suited. The father may be better suited in some circumstances and the mother in others. Neither can therefore be designated categorically in this case. This differs from the case of a young child, for whom the mother is better suited than the father, because women are gentler with young children, more knowledgeable about feeding and carrying them, more patient with these tasks, and more compassionate towards them. In this respect, she is more capable, knowledgeable, compassionate, and patient. Islamic law therefore assigns the mother custody of a child who has not yet reached the age of discernment.

Yet there remains the question of “isolating the operative basis of the ruling”: did the Lawgiver designate women because maternal relatives take precedence over paternal relatives in custody, or simply because women fulfil the purpose of custody better than men? Scholars hold two views on this. Their implications become apparent when considering whether female relatives on the agnatic side take precedence over maternal relatives—for example, the maternal grandmother and the paternal grandmother, the maternal half-sister and the paternal half-sister, the paternal aunt and the maternal aunt, and similar cases.

There are two views on this, both transmitted from Ahmad. The view better supported by the evidence gives precedence to female relatives on the agnatic side. This is the view al-Khiraqī mentions in his “Compendium” concerning the paternal and maternal aunts. Accordingly, the paternal grandmother takes precedence over the maternal grandmother, the paternal half-sister over the maternal half-sister, and the paternal aunt over the maternal aunt, as previously explained. Male relatives on the father’s side likewise take precedence over maternal relatives: the paternal half-brother has a stronger claim than the maternal half-brother, and the paternal uncle than the maternal uncle. Indeed, it has even been held that male relatives on the mother’s side have no right to custody under any circumstances, and that custody