Priority between the paternal grandmother and the maternal aunt in custody when the mother is ineligible.
Chapter on Who is More Entitled to Child Custody
Al-Mughni
Book of Maintenance (Nafaqāt)
Primary text
If the mother is absent, remarried, or ineligible, and both the paternal grandmother (mother of the father) and the maternal aunt are present, the paternal grandmother has priority. This is the position of Abu Hanifa, Al-Shafi'i in his later opinion (al-Jadid), and it is narrated from Malik and Abu Thawr. The justification for the paternal grandmother's precedence is that she is an inheriting ancestress, granting her priority over the aunt, similar to the precedence of the maternal grandmother over the paternal grandmother. Furthermore, the paternal grandmother possesses both lineage (birthright) and inheritance rights, resembling the maternal grandmother.
Supporting text
It is narrated from Ahmad that the sister and the maternal aunt are preferred over the father. Based on this, the maternal aunt might be preferred over the paternal grandmother, as held in Al-Shafi'i's earlier opinion (al-Qadeem). This is argued because the aunt derives her right through the mother ('she links through the mother'), just as the maternal grandmother is preferred over the paternal grandmother. However, the narration concerning the Prophet judging for Hamza's daughter in favor of her aunt only establishes the aunt’s general right, not her definitive precedence in a conflict. Any inheriting ancestress is preferred over anyone not directly descending from the core lineage, regardless of the degree, due to the virtue of birthright and inheritance. The father’s mother's mother (mother of the paternal grandfather) has no custody right because her link is through the paternal grandfather, who has no custody right, nor do those linked through him.