The conceptualization of the “interest of the child” through the use of the classical concept of ’Ḥaqq Allāh

The paper draws from the concept of protection of the interest of the child as ‘ḥaqq Allāh’, as described in the Murshid edited by Qāḍī Iyad Zahalka (judge of the SharīʿaCourt of Appealsin Israel), and tries to explain why such a connection is intriguing and what are the implications of this equation in the Israeli context. The paper argues that reference to ‘ḥaqq Allāh’ represents a theoretical bedrock for judges to assert their role of political authorities and guarantors of Muslim identity. Nevertheless, looking at recent judgments, it points out that not all Muslim judges of the last generation in Israel show the same attitude with this regard. Indeed, judges differently understand and actualize the role implicit in the equation between the interest of the child and the ‘right of God’. In the paper, such differences are highlighted considering the different approaches of Palestinian Muslim judges with Israeli citizenship towards the figure of the social worker and the social worker report as a legal tool used in custody proceedings.