Assessing the Best Interests of the Child in Hadhanah Disputes: Integrating Maqasid Shariah and Family Justice in Religious Court Rulings

Abstract

Post-divorce Ḥaḍānah is often understood as a parental right contested according to the classical fiqh hierarchy, whereas the contemporary child-protection paradigm requires custody to be determined according to the child’s best interests, demonstrated substantively rather than merely by kinship status. This study analyzes the ratio decidendi of two purposively selected Religious Court decisions representing contrasting judicial reasoning in ḥaḍānah disputes: Tigaraksa Religious Court Decision No. 6110/Pdt.G/2022/PA.Tgrs, concerning custody transfer based on remarriage and separate residence, and Bukittinggi Religious Court Decision No. 525/Pdt.G/2024/PA.Bkt, concerning ratification of a mediation agreement despite indications of child abuse. Using a qualitative normative-analytical approach combined with case studies, the rulings were examined through conceptual, historical-normative, and doctrinal approaches and evaluated using a three-dimensional model—substantive, procedural, and relational—filtered through four maqāṣid al-sharīʿah parameters: ḥifẓ al-nafs, ḥifẓ al-ʿaql, ḥifẓ al-nasl, and ḥifẓ al-dīn. The findings indicate that both rulings failed to fully satisfy these parameters, although in different respects. The study contributes a replicable three-dimensional evaluation model integrated with maqāṣid al-sharīʿah for assessing the quality of ḥaḍānah rulings.