Actually, Nic, I think Sharia is extremely well thought out though it routinely adopts principles that are contrary to those of Western systems.
If a woman remarries, her new husband may be jealous, discriminatory or violent towards another man's child, whereas the maternal grandparents or the father's family will feel the child is one of their own. The child might be safest and most loved with the people Sharia nominates. The purpose of this rule is therefore to provide the best support and protection for the weakest individual.
In the West it is axiomatic that the mother ensure the best care for the child and remarriage is usually seen as irrelevant. However, that is probably a mistake: studies in Canada show that step-children are 120 times more likely to be beaten to death by their step-parents than by their natural parents. http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/buller/cinderella%20effect%20fact...
This would seem to vindicate the logic underlying the Sharia position.
Actually, Nic, I think Sharia is extremely well thought out though it routinely adopts principles that are contrary to those of Western systems.
If a woman remarries, her new husband may be jealous, discriminatory or violent towards another man's child, whereas the maternal grandparents or the father's family will feel the child is one of their own. The child might be safest and most loved with the people Sharia nominates. The purpose of this rule is therefore to provide the best support and protection for the weakest individual.
In the West it is axiomatic that the mother ensure the best care for the child and remarriage is usually seen as irrelevant. However, that is probably a mistake: studies in Canada show that step-children are 120 times more likely to be beaten to death by their step-parents than by their natural parents. http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/buller/cinderella%20effect%20fact...
This would seem to vindicate the logic underlying the Sharia position.