“A destitute woman came to me carrying her two daughters. I gave her three dates, and she gave each of them a date. Then she raised one date to her mouth to eat it, but her two daughters asked her for it, so she split the date she had intended to eat between them. I was impressed by what she did, and I mentioned to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, what she had done. He said:

‘Allah has thereby made Paradise obligatory for her, or freed her thereby from the Fire.’”

It was recorded by Muslim, Ahmad (6/92), and al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu‘ab (7/468).

Sa‘sa‘ah, the uncle of al-Ahnaf, also corroborated it with a similar report.

It was narrated by Ibn Majah (3668).

It also has a supporting narration from the hadith of Umm Salamah, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, but without the story. Its wording is:

“Whoever spends on two daughters, two sisters, or two female relatives, seeking reward from Allah for spending on them until Allah enriches them from His bounty or suffices them, they will be a shield for him from the Fire.”

It was recorded by Ahmad (6/293) and al-Tabarani in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir (23/392–393), through Muhammad ibn Abi Humayd, from al-Muttalib ibn ‘Abdullah al-Makhzumi, from her.

I say: Its narrators are trustworthy, except Muhammad ibn Abi Humayd—who was al-Azraqi al-Ansari. Al-Hafiz said in al-Taqrib, following his teacher al-Haythami in al-Majma‘ (8/157): “Weak.”

However, al-Mundhiri said in al-Targhib (3/84):

“He was not abandoned, and some scholars regarded him as acceptable; nor does he impair supporting reports.”

Al-Bazzar also recorded it (1890, Kashf) through another route from Anas: “A woman entered upon ‘A’ishah …” *