- “Whoever is granted his share of gentleness has been granted his share of the good of this world and the Hereafter. Maintaining kinship ties, good character, and good neighbourliness make homes flourish and increase lifespans.”
Ahmad recorded it (6/159): “ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Muhazzim narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim; al-Qāsim narrated to us, from ʿĀʾishah, that the Prophet said to her...” Then he cited it.
I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are all among the narrators of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, except Muḥammad ibn Muhazzim. Ibn Maʿīn declared him trustworthy, and Abū Ḥātim said: “There is no objection to him.” Ibn Ḥibbān also included him in al-Thiqāt (The Trustworthy Narrators).
Al-Mundhirī said in al-Targhīb (3/224), and al-Haythamī followed him in al-Majmaʿ (8/153): “Ahmad narrated it, and its narrators are trustworthy, except that ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim did not hear from ʿĀʾishah!” This is what he said; it seems that the phrase, “al-Qāsim narrated to us,” had been omitted from their copies of al-Musnad. It is, however, established in the printed edition, and the chain is authentic. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr also corroborated him, reporting it from al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad. Al-Baghawī recorded it in Sharḥ al-Sunnah (3/434, al-Maktab edition) and declared it weak because of this ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. But ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim is trustworthy, so his corroboration is beneficial, not detrimental.
I also saw the hadith in a juzʾ narrated by Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Bāghandī, who said (Majmūʿ 107, al-Ẓāhiriyyah): “Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm and Aḥmad al-Dawraqī narrated to us; they said: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith narrated to us...” He then gave it exactly as Ahmad did, except that he cited from its text only its final sentence, with the wording: “Good character, good neighbourliness, and maintaining kinship ties increase lifespans and make homes flourish.”