Buying and Selling: Ruling on Final Authority Over Offspring’s Affairs in Parental Disputes

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Buying and Selling: Ruling on Final Authority Over Offspring’s Affairs in Parental Disputes

English:

Question #1495:

Who is the final arbiter as regards the affairs of the offspring? Is it the father or the mother? If the father or the paternal grandfather has no overall preference, and parents have a say in it, is it the father, or the mother, who should have the final say in the event of a dispute?

Answer #1495:

The ruling varies in accordance with the rights. The wilāyah over the child is for the father and the paternal grandfather. The right of ḥiḍānah of the boy for the first two years and the girl for the first seven years is the mother’s. After that it becomes the father’s. For children’s part, i.e. to be obedient and not be a source of nuisance and harm to their parents, there is no difference between father and mother. However, the son/daughter should accord his/her mother a preferential treatment, pursuant to the tradition, “Paradise is under the feet of mothers”.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Buying and Selling