The Mother’s Absolute Right to Custody
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is the mother absolutely more entitled to custody than the father, or is it said that the one more entitled to custody is the one who is most suitable, so the mother might be less suitable?
Answer:
If there is an impediment to custody on the part of the father, then custody belongs to the mother in all cases, unless there is an impediment to custody on the part of the mother that prevents her from having it; in that case, it transfers to the father, because it is an obligation incumbent upon her, not a right belonging to her. It is an obligation incumbent upon her for the sake of the child under custody. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is the mother absolutely more entitled to custody than the father, or is it said that the one more entitled to custody is the one who is most suitable, so the mother might be less suitable?
Answer:
If there is an impediment to custody on the part of the father, then custody belongs to the mother in all cases, unless there is an impediment to custody on the part of the mother that prevents her from having it; in that case, it transfers to the father, because it is an obligation incumbent upon her, not a right belonging to her. It is an obligation incumbent upon her for the sake of the child under custody. Yes.
Source
شرح أخصر المختصرات في الفقه، فصل: في نفقة الأقارب — islamhouse.com (59:26)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.