Motherhood Duties and Child Custody Right in Islamic Jurisprudence
نویسندگان
1 Associate Professor Department of Jurisprudence and the Principles of the Islamic Law, Faculty of Theology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
doi
چکیده
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.
