827 – ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declare: ‘Whatever property a parent or a child has secured belongs to his agnates, whoever they may be.’” It was narrated by Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah, and was judged authentic by Ibn al-Madīnī and Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr. (1)
Hadith grading:
The report is ḥasan (sound). It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah, and declared ṣaḥīḥ by Ibn al-Madīnī and Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr. Ibn al-Qayyim quotes Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr as saying, “This is a sound, authentic, and singular (gharīb) ḥadith.”
Key vocabulary:
– “aḥraza al-wālid” (what the parent has secured): aḥraza, with a hamzah followed by a quiescent ḥāʾ and ending with a zāy, means to take possession of wealth, safeguard it, and store it for future need.
Points derived from the ḥadith:
- The full version found in Sunan Abū Dāwūd relates that Riʾāb ibn Ḥudhāyfah married a woman who bore him three sons. When their mother died, her three boys inherited her real estate and the right of walāʾ over her clients. ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ was the agnatic relative of the children; he took them to Syria, where they died. One of their clients also died, leaving property. The woman’s brothers then litigated against ʿAmr before ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. ʿUmar said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stated: ‘Whatever property a child or a parent has secured belongs to his agnates, whoever they may be.’” He therefore wrote for them a document attested by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, Zayd ibn Thābit, and another man