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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |||||
| The decision of the Chechen Muftiate contradicts the norms of Sharia | |||||
| 2025-08-21 | |||||
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [KavkazUzel] The deeply rooted custom in Chechnya of leaving minor children with the father in the event of a divorce contradicts the norms of Sharia,
Divorced women in the North Caucasus have a hard time getting custody of their children if their ex-husband or his relatives want to keep the children for themselves. Relatives can prevent the mother from communicating with the children and put pressure on the children themselves, human rights activists said earlier. Doctor of Law, professor at the Higher School of Economics, Islamic scholar Leonid Syukiyainen, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Asian Part of Russia (SAMAR) Mufti Nafigulla Ashirov, Chairman of the Committee "Civic Assistance"* Svetlana Gannushkina* and lawyer Timofey Shirokov commented to the "Caucasian Knot" on the decision of the SAM of Chechnya to settle the dispute between divorced parents, as a result of which a visitation schedule was drawn up for the mother. According to Sharia law, children remain in the care of their mother until a certain age after their parents divorce, Leonid Syukiyainen told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "She takes care of their upbringing. This is a general rule after divorce. In different Muslim countries and according to different legal schools (madhhabs) there are differences in the age up to which children should remain with their mother. For boys this age is younger, and girls remain with their mother until they reach adulthood, which is determined individually, with the beginning of the girl's cycles," he said.
"This is practically the case everywhere. With some minor nuances that depend on the specific features of the legislation. If the mother neglects her responsibilities to care for the children, then they are transferred to another relative, but again first on the maternal side - the maternal grandmother and only then to the father," explained Syukiyainen. He noted that certain Sharia norms are included in special family legislation. “And almost everywhere it is stipulated that in the case of silence of the law, if some issue is not regulated by the law, then one should turn to the legal conclusions of the fiqh of a certain madhhab,” Syukiyainen pointed out. In his opinion, in the North Caucasus the custom of leaving young children only with the father contradicts the norms of Sharia. "This is a traditional rule that has existed for a very long time, a long time ago. Many courts are influenced by these customs and make such decisions. This is contrary to Sharia. I know many cases where women found themselves in a very difficult situation, could not communicate with their children. And they were assured that this was done according to Sharia. This is a misconception. This is how they imagine Sharia. They are mistaken. They do not even know their own Shafi'i school.
Nafigulla Ashirov also pointed out the contradictions between customs and Sharia norms. "According to the madhhab of Abu Hanifa, custody of children is given priority to the mother. But this custody is not permanent, but until the children reach a certain age, such as: if it is a boy, then the mother has custody of him until he reaches the age of seven, and then custody passes to the father. If it is a girl, then the mother has custody of her until she reaches the age of nine, and then - the father.
Russian legislation in general often takes the side of mothers, but the situation in the North Caucasus, in Chechnya in particular, is not so positive, Svetlana Gannushkina* is sure. "Because there is this conviction in certain circles, so to speak, mainly in the Caucasus, that a child, as I have heard many times, belongs to the father's family. This, of course, is surprising to me, in general the very concept of belonging, a child does not belong to anyone, we belong to our children while they are small, and what does it mean for a child to belong. But the conviction that it is the father's blood, that it is belonging to the family, is very deeply rooted," Gannushkina* said. She pointed out that, according to Russian law, time between a child’s parents cannot be divided in half. "I know that this is determined in court if the parents themselves cannot agree, but still, the second parent, of course, has the right to meet with the child. In this case, the time is not necessarily divided in half, the child goes to school somewhere, the parents can live in completely different localities, how can it be divided in half? As a rule, the courts take the position that the mother becomes the main guardian, but this is quite understandable, because up to a certain age, the child needs the mother more than the father," Gannushkina* explained. Lawyer Timofey Shirokov noted that the law cannot in any way divide the time children spend together between divorced parents. "Formally, there can't be any prescribed norm here. In general, Russian legislation is more often on the side of mothers, leaving them with children. And naturally, children communicate more with their mother. But the father can, through the court, appoint some time for communication with the children, if the parents themselves were unable to agree. But there is no specific norm here. Also, if the children remain with the father, the mother is assigned some time for communication," Shirokov said. | |||||
| Posted by:badanov |