Child Custody in Islamic Law
Theory and Practice in Egypt since the Sixteenth Century

A longitudinal history of Islamic child custody law, challenging Euro-American exceptionalism to reveal developments that considered the best interests of the child.

Ahmed Fekry Ibrahim (Author)

9781108470568, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 August 2018

278 pages
23.5 x 15.5 x 1.9 cm, 0.52 kg

'This is a fascinating account of the practice of custody and guardianship in Egypt,and one hopes many future studies on these subjects will follow.' Janan Delgado, Journal of Near Eastern Studies

Pre-modern Muslim jurists drew a clear distinction between the nurturing and upkeep of children, or 'custody', and caring for the child's education, discipline, and property, known as 'guardianship'. Here, Ahmed Fekry Ibrahim analyzes how these two concepts relate to the welfare of the child, and traces the development of an Islamic child welfare jurisprudence akin to the Euro-American concept of the best interests of the child, enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Challenging Euro-American exceptionalism, he argues that child welfare played an essential role in agreements designed by early modern Egyptian judges and families, and that Egyptian child custody laws underwent radical transformations in the modern period. Focusing on a variety of themes, including matters of age and gender, the mother's marital status, and the custodian's lifestyle and religious affiliation, Ibrahim shows that there is an exaggerated gap between the modern concept of the best interests of the child and pre-modern Egyptian approaches to child welfare.

Part I. Child Custody and Guardianship in Comparative Perspective: 1. Child custody in civil and common law jurisdictions
2. The best interests of the child in juristic discourse
Part II. Ottoman Egyptian Practice 1517–1801: 3. Private separation deeds in action
4. Ottoman juristic discourse in action (1517–1801)
5. Child custody in Egypt 1801–1929
6. Twentieth- and twenty-first-century child custody (1929–2014).

Subject Areas: International law [LB], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]