8. Children Dying
The excellence of someone whose child has died
Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "No Muslim who has had three of his children die young will enter the Fire, except to expiate an unfulfilled oath." Abu Hurayra reported that a woman came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with a child. She said, "Make supplication for him. I have buried three children." He said, "You have built a strong barrier against the Fire." Khalid al-'Absi said, "A son of mine died and I felt intense grief over his loss. I said, 'Abu Hurayra, have you heard anything from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to cheer us regarding our dead?' He replied, 'I heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "Your children are roaming freely in the Garden."'" Jabir ibn 'Abdullah said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'If anyone has three of his children die young and resigns them to Allah, he will enter the Garden.' We said, 'Messenger of Allah, what about two?' 'And two,' he said." Mahmud ibn Labid said to Jabir, "By Allah, I think that if you had asked, 'And one?' he would have given a similar answer." He said, "By Allah, I think so too." same as 144, different isnad. Abu Hurayra reported, "A woman came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, 'Messenger of Allah! We cannot come to sit with you, so set aside a day when we can come.' He said, 'Your appointed place is the house of so-and-so.' He came to the women at that time. Part of what he said to them was, 'There is no woman among you who has three children die, resigning them to Allah, who will not enter the Garden.' A woman said, 'And if it is two?' He replied, 'And if it is two.'" Umm Salim said, "While I was with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, he said, 'Umm Salim! There is no Muslim couple who have three of their children die without Allah admitting them to the Garden by virtue of His mercy to them.' I said, 'And if there are two?' He said, 'And if there are two.'" Al-Hasan reported that Sa'sa'a ibn Mu'awiya told him that he met Abu Dharr finding him alone without any relatives and asked, "Don't you have any children, Abu Dharr?" He said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'There is no Muslim who has three of his children die before they reach puberty without Allah admitting him to the Garden by virtue of His mercy to them. There is no man who frees a Muslim with Allah Almighty making each of the limbs of the one who is freed a ransom for each of the emancipator's limbs.'" Anas ibn Malik reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If someone has three children die before they reach puberty, Allah will admit him and them to the Garden by virtue of His mercy."
Someone whose miscarried child dies
Sahl ibn al-Hanzala, who had no children, said, "I would prefer to have a miscarried child while I am a Muslim and resign that child to Allah than to have the entire world and what it contains." 'Abdullah reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Which of you prefers the money of heirs to his own money?" "Messenger of Allah," they replied, "there is none of us who does not prefer his own wealth to that of his heirs." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Know that there is not one of you who does not prefer his heirs' money to his own. Your wealth is what you have spent (for Allah) and the wealth of your heirs is what you leave." He said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Who do you reckon to be the childless among you?" They said, "They are those who do not have any children." No," he said, "The childless are those who have not sent any of their children ahead (i.e. none of their children have died)." He reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Who do you reckon to be the one who most often throws people down (in a fight)?" They replied, "The one whom men do not throw down." He said, "No the one who throws people down is the person who controls himself when he is angry."