Jordanian Christian Mom Wins Child Custody Battle with Muslim Uncle
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
April 19, 2005
(AgapePress) - More than a decade of prayer and persistence have paid off for a Christian widow from Jordan who only recently was awarded custody of her children.Eleven years ago Siham Qandah's husband lost his life while serving as a soldier in the United Nations peacekeeping forces in Kosovo. Soon afterward, when she tried to apply for orphan benefits for her 15-year-old son, Fadi, and her 16-year-old daughter, Rawan, the widow made an alarming discovery.
Although Qandah and her family were Christians, her husband's brother -- Al-Muhtadi, who had converted to Islam as a teen -- had submitted a forged document to the authorities claiming his brother had secretly converted back to Islam before his death. Under Islamic law, the unsigned "conversion certificate" was uncontestable and meant the court could automatically declare Qandah's son and daughter to be Muslims.
That declaration meant that the children's financial matters had to be overseen by a Muslim, and their uncle was eager to volunteer. Al-Muhtadi also engaged Qandah in a seven-year court battle to take custody of his minor niece and nephew in order to raise them as Muslims.
Several times during the past three years, the Christian mother was forced into hiding to avoid possible arrest and separation from her children. Meanwhile, over the years the uncle began pocketing some of Fadi and Rawan's monthly benefits, and later he withdrew nearly half of the trust fund money the U.N. had allotted for the care of the two children.
But now, according to Jerry Dykstra of Open Doors USA, Qandah's long legal battle is finally over. "The Islamic Sharia court in Amman, Jordan, actually ruled that not only was she able to keep her children," he says, "but that her brother-in-law has to pay back the fund that he had basically pillaged over the past seven years, to help provide for these children."
Open Doors, an organization that serves and advocates for persecuted Christians around the world, has been appealing for prayers and letters on Qandah's behalf for several years. Her friends and supporters at the ministry are "very excited over the fact that the power of answered prayer has been demonstrated once again," Dykstra says, "and that the process we engaged in, of letter-writing and involving Christians around the world, has really shown itself to be positive in this case."
In an April 12 Compass Direct news report, Qandah was quoted as saying she still could not believe her ordeal is finally over. "I am so happy, I am just speechless," she told the interviewer, adding that she had already called her children from Amman with the news, but could not wait to get back home to Husn to tell them in person.
Open Doors credits the publicity surrounding Qandah's case with helping to secure her rights in the Jordanian courts. According to the ministry, after the Christian woman's dilemma attracted international press coverage, King Abdullah II and other members of the Jordanian royal family began monitoring the case and pledged that Qandah's children would not be taken away from their mother.
