Divorce (5/5)

The Ridha'ah (Breast feeding)

• Foster-kinship establishes impediment to marriage just as the family relationship does.

• The ridha'ah, or breast feeding that renders the baby a foster-brother, or foster-sister to the children of the wet-nurse are five feedings during the first two years, after which the suckling child is considered as hers as well as her husband's. Consequently, the husband's and the wet-nurse's mahaarim become the child's as well. This, however, does not apply to the child's real parents, nor to his own brothers and sisters.

• The limit of a single feeding: A single feeding is when the baby sucks the breast in one session regardless if the session was interrupted by taking a breath, boredom, changing the breast, or the like. All this is considered as a single breast feeding.

• Breast-feeding is confirmed by the testimony of one trustworthy, pious woman, whether she is the wet-nurse herself or not.

• When a woman breast feeds a baby, he/she becomes like her own child with respect to marriage, [1] the permissibility of being in seclusion with her, or with her daughters. Being considered as her child does not mean, however, that she has to maintain the child, inherits him, or vice versa.

Alimony

• It is incumbent on the husband to pay alimony for his wife's maintenance to cover her basic needs of meals clothing and lodging. Such maintenance depends on the norms, the social condition, age, and the customs of the couple.

• The husband must maintain his revocably divorced wife by supplying her food, clothes and accommodation. But she would not be entitled to her assigned days if the husband has more than one wife.

• A wife who is irrevocably divorced, would be entitled to food, clothing, and lodging only if she is pregnant. Otherwise, she would be entitled to none.

• A divorced woman whose husband died would be entitled to neither food, clothing, nor lodging. If she is pregnant, her maintenance would be deducted from her infant's share of inheritance. If the infant is not entitled to inheritance, her maintenance would be due on the wealthy heir of the deceased.

• If the husband went away leaving no funds for the maintenance of his wife, it would be incumbent upon him to pay her the arrears.

• Once the wife becomes disobedient, she would not be entitled to maintenance.

• If the husband is niggardly in maintaining his wife, or if he went away without leaving funds for maintenance, she would be entitled to dissolve the marriage with the permission of the judge, if she so wishes.

The Maintenance of Kinship

• It is the man's duty to maintain his parents, grandparents, and their parents, regardless how high up the lineage they may be, as well as their female relations. It is also his duty to maintain his children and their offspring regardless how far down the lineage they may be, as well as their female relations. [1]

• It is obligatory on man to maintain all his principal heirs, and ta'seeb group who are entitled to inherit him.

• There are four conditions for maintaining relatives:

1- The recipient must be one of the donor's heirs.

2- The recipient must be poor.

3- The donor must be well-off.

4- The donor and the recipient must subscribe to the same religion.

The Custody

The custody, the up keeping of a child, or a handicapped. It is an excellent institution in Islam promoting the welfare of the weakling, and the needy.

• The most entitled to the children's custody is the mother, her mother, and grandmother, then the father, his mother, or his grandmother. Then the grandfather, and his mother, then the child's first sister, or his step-sister. Then his first aunt, then the second aunt, then his grandmother's aunts then his father's paternal aunts, the maternal aunts, the father's nieces, his female cousins, the grand-fathers' cousins, then the rest of the usbah, the closest, then the closer, then the rest of his female relations, then the Head of State. The father must pay the expenses to whoever requests the child's custody.

• If the person who is entitled to the custody declines, or was unfit, such right moves over to the next of kin.

• Once the boy reaches the age of seven, he would choose which parent he would like to stay with. If the child chooses a parent who would not take good care of him, his choice would not be approved.

• The girl's father has the right of her custody once she is seven years old, only if this arrangement is in her best interest.

• Once the boy reaches the age of puberty he may stay with whoever he wishes. Whereas the girl stays with her father from the age of seven until she moves out to her husband's.