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Is it permissible for a widowed mother to retain guardianship over her child after marrying another man, with the approval of the child's paternal uncle, knowing that she was the guardian before her marriage?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the child is at the age of حضانة (custody), and the mother is the custodian and guardian over him, and she marries a non-mahram (foreigner), some scholars have favored that this marriage does not invalidate her custody. A fatwa has been issued to this effect, because the right of guardianship is not nullified by marriage. However, if the child has passed the stage of حضانة (custody), the mother's guardianship over her son remains and is not invalidated except by betrayal, incapacity, or her withdrawal from it. Custody ends when the boy reaches seven years of age, whereupon he is given a choice between his parents.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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