He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

A man has a grown son who has travelled by sea with his most valuable possessions. He also has another son, approaching puberty, by another woman whom he has divorced. She has a father and mother, and the boy lives with them. His father wishes to take him away and send him travelling with his brother, without either his mother’s consent or the boy’s own consent. Is he entitled to do so?

He replied:

The boy should be given a choice between his parents. If he chooses to remain with his mother and she has not remarried, he should stay with her, and the father has no right to send him away on a journey. However, he should spend the daytime with his father, so that he may teach him and train him in proper conduct, and the night with his mother. If he chooses to stay with his father, he should stay with him. If he is staying with his father, and the father considers it in the boy’s best interests to send him travelling, he may do so provided that this causes the boy no harm. And Allah knows best.

He—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—was asked:

A man married a woman who had a daughter. His wife died, and the girl remained with him, and he raised her. Some soldiers have sought to take her away. Is that permissible?

The answer:

The soldiers have no guardianship over her merely on that account. If she has no relative entitled to her custody, whoever is best suited to care for her should have custody of her. Her mother’s husband is her mahram (a man permanently prohibited from marrying her), whereas the soldier is not.

If her mother’s husband is caring for her in a manner that serves her welfare, she must not be removed from his care and placed with a man who is not her mahram and who is not permitted to look at her or be alone with her.