“A man came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said: ‘I gave my mother a garden that belonged to me, and she died without leaving any heir other than myself.’ The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘Your charitable gift has taken effect, and your garden has returned to you.’” He then cited the hadith.

I say: This is a good chain of transmission, given the well-known disagreement concerning the narration of Amr ibn Shuayb from his father from his grandfather. It is corroborated by the hadith of Abdullah ibn Ata’, from Abdullah ibn Buraydah, from his father, who said: “While I was sitting with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, a woman came to him and said: ‘I gave my mother a slave-girl in charity, and she has died.’ He said: ‘Your reward is assured, and she has been returned to you through inheritance.’”

It was recorded by Muslim (3/156–157), Ibn Majah (2394), and others.

There is also a third account, narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah: “A man from the Ansar gave his mother a garden of date palms for her lifetime. When she died, his brothers came and said, ‘We have equal legal rights in it.’ But he refused, so they brought their dispute before the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he divided it among them as inheritance.”

Ahmad recorded it (3/299) through two routes from Sufyan al-Thawri, from Humayd ibn Qays al-A‘raj, from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, from him. I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission meeting the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Muawiyah ibn Hisham, however, differed from both of them: Sufyan narrated to us from Habib—meaning Ibn Abi Thabit—from al-A‘raj, from Tariq al-Makki, from Jabir, with a similar report. It contains: “Her son said: ‘I only gave it to her for her lifetime—and he had brothers.’ The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘It belongs to her in her lifetime and after her death.’ He said: ‘I had given it to her as charity.’ He said: ‘That is even more binding upon you.’”

It was recorded by Abu Dawud (3557). Although Muawiyah ibn Hisham—the Kufan cloth-shearer—was trustworthy and one of Muslim’s narrators, al-Hafiz said: