Will a divorced woman attain the same reward as the widow who raised her children?

Firstly:

Many people are unnecessarily
concerned with finding out about some specific reward, and they forget about
the general reward with which Allah will honour all the believers. Allah,
may He be glorified and exalted, has promised all Muslims a great reward if
they bear hardship with patience and show acceptance and contentment with
whatever befalls them in this world of troubles and problems. Allah, may He
be glorified, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Except those who show
patience and do righteous good deeds, those: theirs will be forgiveness and
a great reward (Paradise)”

[Hood 11:11]

“(Saying): ‘We feed you
seeking Allah’s Countenance only. We wish for no reward, nor thanks from
you.

‘Verily, We fear from our
Lord a Day, hard and distressful, that will make the faces look horrible
(from extreme dislike of it).’

So Allah saved them from the
evil of that Day, and gave them Nadratan (a light of beauty) and joy.

And their recompense shall be
Paradise, and silken garments, because they were patient,

Reclining therein on raised
thrones, they will see there neither the excessive heat of the sun, nor the
excessive bitter cold, (as in Paradise there is no sun and no moon)”

[al-Insaan 76:9-13].

It is not wise to overlook
these great rewards that are mentioned in general terms, and look instead
for some specific reward that is mentioned in a particular hadith that may
not even be proven to be sound, and even if it is proven to be sound, it may
be applicable only to widows and cannot be applied by analogy to divorcees.

Therefore our advice to you
is to put your trust in Allah and focus on raising your children and giving
them a good upbringing, and for every hour you spend on that purpose, you
will have an immense reward from Allah, may He be glorified, in addition to
your previous reward for your steadfastness in bearing the calamity of your
ex-husband’s illness.

Secondly:

With regard to the hadith
that speak of the virtue of the widow who refrained from remarriage in order
to devote her life to taking care of her orphaned children, this is a da‘eef
(weak) report that was not narrated via any sound chain of narrators from
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). But we hope that the
one who devotes her life to raising her children and giving them a good
upbringing will attain the reward mentioned in this hadith, if it were
saheeh (sound).

The first hadith:

It was narrated that ‘Awf ibn
Maalik al-Ashja‘i said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) said:

“I and the woman with dull
cheeks will be like these two on the Day of Resurrection – and he held his
forefinger and middle finger together. – That is a woman of high status and
beauty whose husband died, and she devoted her life to caring for her
orphaned children until they became able to take care of themselves or
died.”

The woman with dull cheeks is
one whose colour has changed because she has been a widow for a long time
and she has given up adorning herself.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari in
al-Adab al-Mufrad (no. 141); Ahmad in al-Musnad (39/432); Abu
Dawood in an-Sunan (5149); Ibn Abi’d-Dunya in an-Nafaqah ‘ala
al-‘Iyaal (1/232); at-Tabaraani in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabeer (18/56) –
via an-Nahhaas ibn Qahm, who said: Shaddaad Abu ‘Ammaar told me, from ‘Awf
ibn Maalik.

We say: This is a da‘eef
(weak) isnaad, because of an-Nahhaas ibn Qahm. Yahya al-Qattaan classed his
hadith as da‘eef. Ibn Ma‘een said: He is nothing. Abu Haatim said likewise.
He was classed as da‘eef by Abu Dawood and an-Nasaa’i. Ibn ‘Adiyy said: His
hadiths in which he is the only narrator from trustworthy narrators cannot
be supported by any corroborating evidence. Ibn Hibbaan said: He used to
narrate odd (munkar) reports from known narrators, and he differed from
trustworthy narrators; he cannot be quoted as evidence. Ad-Daaraqutni said:
His hadith is ill-founded. See his biography in Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb
(10/426).

There is another problem with
this hadith, which is the break in the chain of narration between Shaddaad
Abu ‘Ammaar and ‘Awf ibn Maalik. Saalih Jazrah said: He did not hear from
him. See: Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb (4/317).

Therefore this hadith was
classed as da‘eef by Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) in
Da‘eef Abi Dawood, in as-Silsilah ad-Da‘eefah (no. 1122), and
elsewhere.

The second hadith:

It was narrated that Abu
Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:

“I will be the first one to
open the gate of paradise, but a woman will come rushing to enter with me. I
will say to her: What is the matter with you, and who are you? And she will
say: I am a woman who devoted my life to caring for my orphaned children.”

Narrated by Abu Ya‘laa in
al-Musnad (12/7); al-Khateeb al-Baghdaadi in al-Muttafaq
wa’l-Muftaraq (2/1091); ad-Daylami in al-Firdaws (1/34) – via
‘Abd as-Salaam ibn ‘Ajlaan al-Hujaymi: Abu ‘Uthmaan an-Nahdi told us, from,
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him).

This chain of narration is
also da‘eef (weak), because of ‘Abd as-Salaam ibn ‘Ajlaan. End quote from
al-Jarh wa’t-Ta‘deel (6/46). Ibn Hibbaan said: He makes mistakes and his
hadiths differ from those of trustworthy narrators. End quote from
ath-Thiqaat (7/127).

If such a person is not
deemed trustworthy, any hadith narrated by him alone is not to be accepted;
rather the critics stated that he made mistakes and his hadith differed from
those of trustworthy narrators. Therefore he was classed as da‘eef by
al-Busayri in Ithaaf al-Khiyarah (5/488); and by al-Albaani in
Da‘eef at-Targheeb wa’t-Tarheeb (2/81) and as-Silsilah ad-Da‘eefah
(5374).

This hadith was also narrated
by al-Kharaa’iti in Makaarim al-Akhlaaq (p. 212). He said: Nasr ibn
Dawood al-Khalanji told us: Sahl ibn Bakkaar told us: ‘Abd as-Salaam
Abu’l-Khaleel told us, from Abu Yazeed al-Madani, from Abu Hurayrah (may
Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah has forbidden any human to enter
Paradise before me, but I shall look to my right, and I shall see a woman
racing with me to reach the gate of Paradise. I shall say: Why is she racing
with me? And it will be said to me: O Muhammad, this is a woman who was
beautiful, and she had to take care of her orphaned children, so she devoted
her life to them with patience until they reached the age of independence,
and Allah appreciated her deed.”

Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah
have mercy on him) said concerning this isnaad of al-Kharaa’iti: It is the
same as the isnaad of Abu Ya‘la, and the mistake was made by ‘Abd as-Salaam
when he said: “from Abu Yazeed al-Madani” instead of “Abu ‘Uthmaan an-Nahdi.
And he said: Perhaps it stemmed from the poor memory of ‘Abd as-Salaam
himself.

End quote from as-Silsilah
ad-Da‘eefah (11/625)

Al-Haafiz al-‘Iraaqi said
concerning this report of al-Kharaa’iti:

Its isnaad is da‘eef (weak).

End quote from Takhreej
al-Ihya’ (1/500)

The third hadith:

It was narrated from Anas
(may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said:

“There are three who will be
in the shade of the Throne on the Day when there will be no shade but His
shade: one who upholds ties of kinship, for Allah will increase his
provision and extend his lifespan; a woman whose husband dies and leaves her
with young orphans, so she says, ‘I shall not get married; rather I shall
devote my life to taking care of my orphans until they die or Allah makes
them independent of means’; and a man who makes food and hosts his guest and
spends generously on him, and he also invites the orphan and the needy, and
feeds them for the sake of Allah, may He be exalted.”

Narrated by ad-Daylami in
al-Firdaws (2/99). In al-Jaami‘ as-Sagheer, it is attributed to
Abu’sh-Shaykh in ath-Thawaab and al-Asbahaani in at-Targheeb,
but we could not find its isnaad in either of them.

But Shaykh al-Albaani (may
Allah have mercy on him) said:

It is da‘eef jiddan (very
weak).

End quote from Da‘eef al-Jaami‘
(no. 2580); see also as-Silsilah ad-Da‘eefah (no. 3437). That is
because of Yazeed ar-Raqaashi.

Conclusion:

The hadith is da‘eef (weak)
and is not saheeh (sound), but its weakness is slight; it cannot be deemed
severely weak or odd. In fact some scholars of hadith classed its isnaad as
hasan, such as al-Mundhiri in at-Targheeb wa’t-Tarheeb (3/236)

What this means is that there
is nothing wrong with a widow who devotes her life to caring for her
orphaned children hoping for that reward which is mentioned in the hadith,
in the hope that Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, might grant that to
her, but that should be without believing that this hadith can be attributed
to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

As for the woman who is
divorced, this virtue is not mentioned in her case, so the best is to keep
quiet about that and seek the reward for patience, which Allah has promised
to all those who show patience, and the reward for bringing up children that
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has ordained for those who give
children a good upbringing.

And Allah knows best.