Preface

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4. The fact that the appellant at page 3 (printed copy) of the Brikama Cadi
Court proceedings admitted that she was married to Baba Dembajang; the
respondent in this case, is a clear testimony of existence of marriage
between them.
5. The lower court was right in giving the custody of the child born out of
wedlock (i.e. Fatou) to the appellant while HAWA AND ADAMA born in
wedlock to the respondent in compliance with a prophetic Hadith which says
“... Lawful child is the child found in a legal marriage...”
6. On perusal of the record of proceedings of the lower court one will see that
the submission of the appellant took about three (printed) pages. This is a
clear testimony that the appellant was given a fair hearing by the lower
court.
7. It is a trite law under the rules of custody in Islamic law that after the death
of a husband or separation of spouses by divorce, the custody goes to their
mother. This is irrespective of the religion of the mother. The same rule
applies to a Muslim and non-Muslim mother i.e. Christians and Jews.
8. The fact that the appellant was originally a Christian but subsequently
converted to Islam and later reverted to Christianity, made the appellant in
the eyes of Islamic law to lose her right to be identified as a Christian for
she is no longer trustworthy. She is only making a mockery of the religion. It
will be difficult in this circumstance to know whether the appellant is a
Christian or not.
9. Based on the above submission, especially lack of trust and the deceitful
behavior of the appellant, she has become disqualified from acquiring the
right of custody of Muslim children. For more elaboration, the case could