But does Sharia law condone taking a child from his biological mother without her consent or without a court order? Or even without any kind of formal hand-off happening?

Does this routinely happen to divorced/widowed Qatari women here when their children turn 10 (or at some other random time)? Does her ex-/dead husband's family suddenly pick up the child from school one day without informing her and she never sees them again?

I guess if child abduction by paternal relatives is the norm in Qatar or under Sharia law, then it ISN'T strange and weird...but somehow I doubt that's the case, genesis.

I would hazzard a guess that when paternal relatives suddenly demand custody of a minor, that somehow that request is relayed to the current custodial adult/parent or that a court would issue a formal order or something. I seriously doubt that it's okay that kids are just randomly taken and never seen again by their mothers.

THAT'S my big issue with how this has all gone down.

"Marriage is a wonderful institution...but who wants to live in an institution?" -- Groucho Marx