Male custody of a boy continues till puberty, of a female not only till puberty, but till she can be safely left to herself and trusted to take care of herself.
When a female has neither father nor grandfather nor any of her ʿaṣābah to take charge of her, or the ʿaṣābah is profligate, it is the duty of the judge to take cognizance of her condition; and if she can be trusted to take care of herself, he should allow her to live alone, whether she be a virgin or a saiyidah, and if not, he should place her with some female amīn, or trustee, in whom he has confidence; for he is the superintendent of all Muslims. (Fatāwā-i-ʿĀlamgīrī, vol. i. p. 730.)
When a mother refuses to take charge of a child without hire, it may be committed to another.
A boy or girl having passed the period of ḥiẓānah, has no option to be with one parent in preference to the other, but must necessarily thenceforth remain in charge of the father. (Hidāyah, vol. i. p. 389.)
Before the completion of ʿiddah, or dissolution of marriage, the proper place of ḥiẓānah is that where the husband and wife live, and the former cannot take away the child out of the custody of the latter. After completion of her ʿiddah, and separation from her husband, a woman can take her child to the place of her nativity, provided the marriage had been contracted there, or it is so near from the place of separation or husband’s residence, that if the husband should leave the latter in the morning to visit the child, he can return to his residence before night. There is also no objection to her removing with the child from a village to the city or chief town of the district, the same being advantageous to the child, and in no respect injurious to the father. If the child’s mother be dead, and its ḥiẓānah or custody has passed to the maternal grandfather, she cannot remove the child to her own city, though the marriage had taken place there. Other women than the grandmother are like her in respect to the place of ḥiẓānah.
When an umm-i-walad has been emancipated, she has no right to take her child from the city in which the father is residing.
(Hidāyah, vol. i.; Fatāwā-i-ʿĀlamgīrī, vol. i.; Durru ʾl-Muk͟htār, p. 846; Jāmiʿu ʾr-Rumūz; Tagore Lectures, 1879; Baillie’s Digest, p. 430.)
GUEST. Arabic ẓaif (ضـيـف). [[HOSPITALITY].]
GURZ (گرز). (1) The Persian word for the mit̤raqah, or iron mace, wherewith the infidel dead are smitten in their graves by the angels Munkar and Nakīr. [[ʿAZABU ʾL-QABR].]
(2) An iron mace pointed at one end and having a knob at the other covered with spikes, and used by the Gurz Mār, or Rufaʿī faqīrs, for striking against their breasts in their devotional exercises. (Qānūn-i-Islām, p. 291.)