Women came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said, “O Messenger of Allah, we are unable to reach you in your gathering because of the men; so appoint a day for us on which we may come to you.” He said, “Your appointment is at the house of so-and-so.” He came to them on that day at the appointed time, and among what he said to them was this—that is, he mentioned the foregoing hadith.
I say: This chain of transmission is authentic according to Muslim’s criteria. Sufyan is Ibn ‘Uyaynah. Muslim also recorded it in his Sahih (8/39) through another route from Suhayl, in an abridged form, with the wording: “If three children of any one of you die, and she seeks Allah’s reward for their loss, she will enter Paradise.” One of the women asked, “Or two, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Or two.” This is also a narration recorded by Ahmad (2/378).
The hadith is also found in both Sahihs, from the hadith of Abu Sa‘id, in similar wording. It appears in my book Mukhtasar Sahih al-Bukhari (Book 96, Chapter 9), and has previously been discussed under hadith no. 2302. It contains many benefits, of which I shall mention some:
- Whoever loses two children will enter Paradise, and the two will shield him or her from the Fire. This is not confined to females, whether among the parents or the children, for many other hadiths establish that it applies to both sexes. A good selection of them may be found in al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib (3/89–91), and one of them will follow shortly.