Questioner: Sani`i Yousuf (Revolutionary Prosecutor General)
[In His Most Exalted Name
His Holiness Imam Khomeini- may his blessed shadow be prolonged,
Greetings, if acting according to the right of custodianship involves a heavy burden and extraordinary difficulty, is the right applicable? To elaborate, taking the child from the mother after two years weaning period and his/her transfer to the father occasions unbearable hardship in addition to the affliction usually mothers sustain due to separation from the child or if acting according to right of custodianship (fostering) triggers corruption and moral deviation concerning the upbringing of the child. Is this right of custody in force or will it be lifted in view of the sin and corruption ruling? May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you! Yousuf Sani`i, the Country's Prosecutor General]
In His Most Exalted Name
In the second case when the child is exposed to religious or moral corruption, the father is not entitled to custodianship as long as this state of affairs is in progress; in the first case when hardship is not bearable for the mother, the father should not separate the child from the mother.
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini