The One Who has More Priority for the Custody of a Small Child

“I once asked abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), if a man has more right for the custody of a child or woman. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, the man has more right. If a divorced woman asks for breastfeeding her child for the same price as others, then she has more right for breastfeeding.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has stated this Hadith. ‘When a man divorces his wife, who is pregnant, he must provide her maintenance until she gives birth. When she gives birth he must pay her wages and must not harm her unless he finds someone who does it for less; but if she agrees with the lesser wages then she has more right to breastfeeding her child until the child is weaned.’”

“Once, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), was asked about the case of a man who divorces his wife. They have a child, which one of them has more right for the child? He (the Imam) said, ‘The woman has more right as long as she does not marry.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Mothers must breastfeed their children’ means that a child during breastfeeding period is between the two parents in equal manners. When the child is weaned then the father has more right about him than the mother. When the father dies then the mother has more right than the relatives. If the father finds a breastfeeding woman who asks four dirham, for example, and the mother says that she will not do for less than five dirham, he can take the child away from her unless she is more kind and better for the child.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a free woman who has married a slave who has given birth to several children. She is then divorced and then does not stay with her children but marries another man. The slave then finds out about her marriage. He wants to take his children from her saying that he has more right than the mother has since she has married. He (the Imam) said, ‘The slave has no right to take the children from her even if she has married until the slave becomes free; she has more right about her children than the slave as long as he is owned and when he becomes free then he has more right.’”