1004 – Al-Baraʾ ibn ʿĀzib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ ruled that Hamzah’s daughter be placed with her maternal aunt, saying, “The maternal aunt has the standing of the mother.” Al-Bukhārī recorded it. (1)

Aḥmad likewise transmitted it from ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him): “The young girl is to stay with her aunt, for the aunt is a mother.” (2)

Lexical note
– “The aunt is a mother” means she occupies the mother’s place in tenderness and compassion. The aunt here is Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays, and the girl was named ʿImārah—some say Umāmah—whose kunya was Umm al-Faḍl.

Points derived from the ḥadith
1 – The consensus of the scholars is that the mother has first claim to a child’s custody. If the mother is unavailable, the maternal aunt assumes her position, for she feels toward her sister’s children nearly what their mother feels. The instinct of motherhood exists within the aunt, and she regards kindness to her sister’s children as kindness to her sister, which only deepens her affection and care—something well known in practice.

2 – The ḥadith shows that if the mother dies or becomes unfit for custody, the maternal aunt replaces her and takes precedence over the father.

3 – The fuller report relates that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, his brother Jaʿfar, and Zayd ibn Ḥārithah disputed over who should care for Hamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib’s daughter.