Motherhood Duties and Child Custody Right in Islamic Jurisprudence

Author

Associate Professor Department of Jurisprudence and the Principles of the Islamic Law, Faculty of Theology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

According to the teachings of the Qur'ān, the mother is obliged to breastfeed her baby up to ‎‎twenty-one months ‎after the baby’s birth. It is clear, however, that besides feeding on milk, the baby ‎‎needs certain care to keep on nourishing; ‎and this care is to be performed, in normal ‎‎circumstances, by someone who has the strongest emotional and physical ‎relationship with that baby. The issue of custody, which regards the question on who is responsible for this, is brought up ‎when parents are divorced; but in case of continued matrimony, this issue is out of the discussion ‎because ‎the ‎parents cooperate in taking care of their child. The custody of the child, although ‎after being ‎weaned, is the main ‎responsibility of the father; however, the mother is also given the ‎right to ‎undertake this responsibility up to when ‎the child is seven if so she wishes, irrespective ‎of the child's ‎gender.

Keywords


The noble Qur’ān
‎Abū Dāwūd Sajistānī, S.(1990), Sunan Abī Dāwūd. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr. 2. ‘‎Āmilī al-Faq‎‘‎ānī, A. (1997), Al-Durr al-manḍūd fī ma‎‘‎rifat ṣiyagh al-niyyāt wa al-īqā‎‘‎āt wa al-‎‘‎uqūd. Shiraz, Maktibat al-Imām al-‎‘‎Aṣr.
‎‎‘‎Āmilī, M. (1993), Nihāya al-marām fī sharḥ-i mukhtaṣar sharā’i‎‘‎ al-islām. Qom, Nashr-i Islāmī Publications.
‎‎Anṣārī, M. (1994), Kitāb al-ṭaḥāra. Qom, Mu’assisa al-Hādī.
‎Id. (1995), Al-Waṣāyā wa al-mawārīth. Qom, Bāqirī Publications.
‎Ardabīlī, A. (1983), Majma‎‘‎ al-fā’ida wa al-burhān fī sharḥ-i irshād al-adhhān. Qom, Jāmi‎‘‎a-yi Mudarrisīn.
‎Baḥr al-‎‘‎Ulūm, S. M. (1984). Bulghat al-faqīh (4th ed.). N.p., Maktabat al-Ṣādiq.
‎Baḥrānī, Y. (1984), Al-Ḥadā’iq al-nāḍira fī aḥkām al-‎‘‎itrat al-ṭāhira. Qom, Nanshr-i Islāmī Publications.
‎Bukhārī, M. (1981), Ṣaḥīḥ al-bukhārī. N.p., Dār al-Fikr lil-Ṭibā‎‘‎a wa al-Nashr wa al-Towzī‎‘‎.
‎Dāmād, M. B. (1985), Al-Rawāshiḥ al-samāwiyya. Qom, Mar‎‘‎shī Library.
‎Fāḍil Hindī, M. (1984), Kashf al-lithām. Qom, Mar‎‘‎ashī Library.
‎Fayyūmī, A. (1927), Al-Miṣbāḥ al-munīr, edited by M. Muḥyī al-Dīn ‎‘‎Abd al-Ḥamīd, n.p., n.p.
‎Ḥakīm, S. M. (1971), Mustamsik al-‎‘‎urwat al-wuthqā (4th ed.). Beirut, Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‎‘‎Arabī.
‎Ḥillī, Ḥ. (1989),Tabṣirat al-muti‎‘‎allimīn fī aḥkām al-dīn. Tehran, Faqīh Publications.
‎Id. (1992), Mukhtalaf al-Shī‎‘‎a. Qom, Mu‎‘‎assisa-yi Nashr-i Islāmī.
‎Id. (1993), Qawā‘‎id al-aḥkām fī ma‘‎rifat al-ḥalāl wa al-ḥarām. Qom, Nashr Islāmī Publications.
‎Id. (1999), Taḥrīr al-aḥkām. Qom, Imām Ṣādiq Institute.
‎Id. (n.d.), Irshād al-adhhān ilā aḥkām al-īmān. Nashr Islāmī  Publications.
‎Ḥillī, M. (1967), Īḍāḥ al-fawā’id fī sharḥ ishkālāt al-qawā‎‘‎id. Qom, ‘‎Ilmiyya Publications.
‎Ḥurr ‎‘‎Āmilī. M. Ḥ. (n.d), Wasā’il al-Shī‎‘‎a ilā taḥṣīl masā’il al-sharī‎‘‎a. Beirut, Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‎‘‎Arabī.
‎Ibn Bābwayh, M. (1984), Man lā yaḥḍuruhū al-faqīh. Qom, Jāmi‎‘‎a-yi Mudarrisīn.
‎Id. (1995), Al-Muqni‎‘‎. Qom, Imām Hādī Publications.
‎Ibn Barrāj Tarāblusī, Q. A. (1986), Al-Muhadhdhab, edited by Ja‎‘‎far Subḥānī, Qom, Jāmi‎‘‎a-yi Mudarrisīn.
‎Ibn Fahd Ḥillī, A. (1987), Al-Muhadhdhab al-bāri‎‘‎ fī sharḥ al-mukhtaṣar al-nāfi‎‘‎. Qom, Nashr-i Islāmī Publications.
‎Ibn Ḥamza, M. (1988), Al-Wasīla ilā nayl al-faḍīla. Qom, Mar‎‘‎ashī Library.
‎Ibn Idrīs Ḥillī, M. (1990), Al-Sarā’ir al-ḥāwī li taḥrīr al-fatāwī (2nd ed.). Qom, Mu‎‘‎assisa-yi Nashr-i Islāmī.
‎Ibn Manẓūr, M. (1985), Lisān al-‎‘‎Arab. Qom, Adab al-Ḥawza.
‎Ibn Qudāma, A. (n.d), Al-Mughnī. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-‎‘‎Arabiyya.
‎ Jazā’irī, S. A. (n.d), Al-Tuḥfat al-saniyya fī sharḥ nukhbat al-muḥsiniyya, manuscript, Āstān Quds Raḍawī.
‎Karakī, A. (1987), Jāmi‎‘‎ al-maqāṣid fī sharḥ al-qawā‎‘‎id. Qom, Āl al-Bayt Institute.
‎Kāshānī, A. (1989), Badā’i‎‘‎ al-ṣanā’i‎‘‎ fī tartīb al-sharā’i‎‘‎. Pakistan, Al-Maktibat al-Ḥabībiyya.
‎Khānsārī, S. A. (1977), Jāmi‎‘‎ al-madārik fī sharḥ al-mukhtaṣar al-nāfi‎‘‎ (2nd ed.). Tehran, Ṣadūq Publications.
Khū’ī, M. T. (1986), Kitāb al-nikāḥ (mabānī ‎‘‎urwat al-wuthqā). N.p., Dār al-‎‘‎Ilm School.
‎‎Kulaynī, M. (1968), Al-Kāfī (3rd ed.). Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya.
‎Māzandarānī, M. M. Ṣ. (n.d), Sharḥ-i Uṣūl al-kāfī, with additional notes by Mīrzā Abulḥasan Sha‎‘‎rānī, n.p., n.p.
‎Mufīd, M. (1990), Al-Muqni‎‘‎a (2nd ed.). Qom, Mu‎‘‎assisa-yi Nashr-i Islāmī.
Muḥaqqiq Ḥillī, J. (1988), Sharā’i‎‘‎ al-Islām fī masā’il al-ḥalāl wa al-ḥarām (2nd ed.), Istiqlāl  Publications.
‎Najafī, M. Ḥ. (1988), Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharā’i‎‘‎ al-Islām (3rd ed.). Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya.
‎Nawawī, Y. (n.d), Al-Majmū‎‘‎ fī sharḥ al-muḥadhdhab, n.p., Dār al-Fikr.
‎Qazwīnī, M. (n.d.), Sunan-i Ibn Mājja. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr.
‎Qumī Sabziwārī, A. (2001), Jami‎‘‎ al-khilāf wa al-wifāq bayn al-Imāmiyya wa bayn al-a‎‘‎immat al-Ḥijāz wa al-‎‘‎Irāq. N.p., Zamīna Sāzān-i Ẓuhūr-i Imām-i ‎‘‎Aṣr.
‎Rawḥānī, S. (1991), Fiqh al-Ṣādiq fī sharḥ al-tabṣira (3rd ed.). Qom, Mu’assisa-yi Dār al-Kitāb.
‎Sabziwārī, M. B. (n.d), Kifāyat al-Aḥkām, Isfahan, n.p.
‎Sayyid Sābiq (n.d), Fiqh al-sunna. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-‎‘‎Arabiyya.
‎Shahīd Awwal, M. (1990), Al-Lum‎‘‎at al-Damishqiyya. Qom, Dār al-Fikr.
‎Id. (n.d), Al-Qawā‎‘‎id wa al-fawā’id fī al-fiqh wa al-uṣūl wa al-‎‘‎arabiyya, n.p., Maktibat al-Mufīd.
‎Shahīd Thānī, Z. (1978), Al-Rawḍat al-bihiyya fī ‎sharḥ al-Lum‎‘‎at al-Damishqiyya (2nd ed.). Qom, Dāwūdī Publications.
‎Id. (1991), Al-Durūs al-shar‎‘‎īyya fī fiqh al-Imāmiyya. Qom, al-Nashr al-Islāmiyya Publications.
‎Id. (1993), Masālik al-afhām ilā tanqīḥ sharā’i‎‘‎ al-Islām. Qom, Mu’assisa Maārif Islāmī.
‎Sharbīnī, M. (1958), Mughnī al-muḥtāj ilā ma‎‘‎rifat ma‎‘‎ānī alfāẓ al-minhāj. Beirut, Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‎‘‎Arabī.
‎Suyūrī, M. (1982), Naḍd al-qawā‎‘‎id al-fiqhiyya ‎‘‎alā madhhab al-Imāmiyya. Qom, Mar‎‘‎ashī Library.
‎Ṭabāṭabā’ī, S. A. (1983), Riyāḍ al-masā’il fī bayān al-aḥkām bi al-dalā’il. Qom, Āl al-Bayt Institute.
‎Ṭabāṭabā’ī, S. M. K. (1988), Al-‎‘‎Urwat al-wuthqā wa takmilatuhā (2nd ed.). Beirut, Mu’assisa-yi A‎‘‎lamī.
‎Tawḥīdī, M. A. (1992), Miṣbāḥ al-fiqāha (3rd ed.). Qom, Maṭba‎‘‎a al-Sayyid al-Shuhadā.
‎Ṭūsī, M. (1967a), Tahdhīb al-aḥkām fī sharḥ al-Muqni‎‘‎a (4th ed.). Tehran, Al-Maktabat al-Murtaḍawiyya.
‎Id. (1967b), Al-Mabsūt fī fiqh al-Imāmiyya. Tehran, Al-Maktabat al-Murtaḍawiyya.
‎Id. (1987), Al-Khilāf. Qom, Nashr-i Islāmī Publications.
‎Yūsufī, Ḥ. (1989), Kashf al-rumūz fī sharḥ al-Mukhtaṣar al-Nāfi‎‘‎. Qom, Nashr-i Islāmī Publications.