The most entitled of all to [custody] is the mother, then her mothers, however high they ascend, with the closer among them being prioritized; for they are women whose maternity is certain, so they are in the same position as the mother. It is narrated from Ahmad that the mother of the father and her mothers are prioritized over the mother of the mother. According to this report, the father is prioritized; for they are related through him, so the father comes after the mother, then his mothers, then the grandfather, then his mothers, then the father of the father, then his mothers, even if they are not heirs; for they are related through an agnate who is among the people of custody, unlike the mother of the mother's father. Another report was narrated from Ahmad, stating that the sister through the mother and the maternal aunt are more entitled than the father. Thus, the sister through both parents would be more entitled than him, than them, and than all agnates. The first [view] is the one famous in the Madhhab. When the fathers and mothers have been exhausted, the custody transfers to the sisters, and the sister through both parents is prioritized, then the sister through the father, then the sister through the mother. The sister is prioritized over the brother, because she is a woman among the people of custody, so she is prioritized over those at her degree among the men, just as the mother is prioritized over the father, and the mother of the father over the father of the father, and every grandmother at the same degree as a grandfather is prioritized over him, because she oversees custody herself, while a man does not oversee it himself. There is another view, that he is prioritized over her because he is an agnate in his own right. The first is more appropriate. Regarding prioritizing the sister through both parents, or the sister through the father, over the grandfather, there are two views. If there is no sister, the brother through both parents is more entitled, then the brother through the father, then their sons, while the brother through the mother has no custody, for the reason we mentioned. If they are absent, custody passes to the maternal aunts, according to the correct view, and their ordering therein is like the ordering of the sisters. There is no custody for the maternal uncles. If they [the aunts] are absent, it passes to the paternal aunts, and they are prioritized over the paternal uncles, like the prioritizing of sisters over brothers, then to the paternal uncle through both parents, then the paternal uncle through the father, while there is no custody for the paternal uncle [through the mother], then their sons, then to the maternal aunts of the father, according to the statement of Al-Khiraqi. According to the other statement, [it passes] to the maternal aunts of the mother, then to the paternal aunts of the father, and there is no custody for the paternal aunts of the mother, because they are related through the father of the mother, and he has no custody. If two or more persons among the people of custody meet at the same degree, the one entitled among them is prioritized by drawing lots.

Section: If the mother abandons custody while she is entitled to it, there are two views. One is that it transfers to the father, because her mothers are an extension of her in entitlement, so if she drops her right, her extensions drop. The second is that it transfers to her mothers, and this is the most correct; because the father is more distant, so the custody does not transfer to him while there exists someone closer than him, just as it does not transfer to the sister. The fact that they are extensions of her does not necessitate the loss of their rights due to the loss of her right, just as if her right was lost because she is not among the people of custody, or due to her marriage. The rule is the same regarding the father if he drops his right; does the right of his mothers drop? There are two views. If there is a sister through both parents and a sister through the father, and the sister through both parents drops her right, the right of the sister through the father does not drop, because her entitlement is not through her [the first sister's] side and she is not an extension of her.