then al-Murādī narrated to us; Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī narrated to us; Dāwūd al-Jaʿfarī narrated to us; ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad, from Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUqbah, from Kurayb, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The best women of all humankind are Mary, Āsiyah the wife of Pharaoh, Khadījah, and Fāṭimah.” (1)
Ibn ʿAdī added, “Abū Ḥātim also transmitted this to us.”
Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad al-Hamadhānī, the ḥāfiẓ, said: “Al-Qāsim ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ and Sulaymān ibn Yazīd narrated to us; they said: Abū Ḥātim narrated to us; he said: Abū Zurʿah related to me—on my own authority—from Abū al-Jamāhir; Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh informed us, from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿUbayd Allah, from Mujāhid, from Ibn ʿAbbās, tracing the report back to the Prophet, who said, ‘The pen has been lifted from three.’ (2)”
Abū Ḥātim remarked, “I once had this ḥadīth written on a sheet, but it was lost.”
The ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb also recorded it, saying: ʿAlī ibn Ṭalḥah narrated to us; Ṣāliḥ narrated to us.
(1) Its isnad (chain of transmission) is strong. Ahmad, Musnad 1/293, 316, 372, transmits it through several routes from Dawud b. Abi al-Furat, from ʿAlbaʾ b. Ahmar al-Yashkuri, from ʿIkrima, from Ibn ʿAbbas, with the wording: “The foremost women of Paradise…”. Al-Haythami cites it in Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid 9/223, adding its presence in the collections of Abu Yaʿla and al-Tabarani, and remarks that its narrators are those used in the Sahih. It is further supported by a chain from ʿAbd al-Razzaq, from Maʿmar, from Qatada, from Anas, recorded by al-Tirmidhi (no. 388) and Ahmad with the wording: “Four women are sufficient among the women of the worlds.” Al-Tirmidhi, al-Hakim (3/157) and al-Dhahabi judged it sound, and Ibn Hibban (no. 2222) authenticated it through the same isnad, though with the wording: “The best women of the worlds…”.
(2) Its isnad is weak because of the weakness of ʿAbd al-ʿAziz b. ʿUbayd Allah. Al-Haythami includes it in Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid 6/251, attributes it to al-Tabarani’s Kabir and Awsat, and rules it weak on account of ʿAbd al-ʿAziz.
I add: the text of the hadith is nevertheless authentic through other routes. It is transmitted from ʿAʾisha by Abu Dawud (4398), al-Darimi 2/171, Ibn Majah (no. 462) and Ahmad 6/100, 101, 144, and was graded sahih by Ibn Hibban (no. 1496) and al-Hakim (2/59), with al-Dhahabi concurring. It is also reported from ʿAli by Abu Dawud (4399, 4401) and was authenticated by Ibn Khuzayma (no. 1003), Ibn Hibban (no. 1497) and al-Hakim (2/59; 4/389), again with al-Dhahabi’s agreement. Additional supporting chains are listed in Nasb al-rayah 4/161, 165 and Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid 6/251.