His wife died following childbirth – is she a shaheedah (martyr)?

If
a woman dies with a child in her womb, or she dies during childbirth or
after childbirth but within the period of nifaas (post-partum bleeding),
she is considered to be a shaheedah in sha Allaah. Raashid ibn Hubaysh
narrated that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) entered upon ‘Ubaadah ibn al-Saamit when he was sick and
said, “Do you know who is a shaheed (martyr) in my ummah?”The people remained silent, then ‘Ubaadah said, “Help me to sit
up.” They helped him to sit up, then he said, “O Messenger of Allaah,
(is it) the patient one who seeks reward from Allaah for his patience?”
The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said, “Then the martyrs among my ummah would be very few. Being killed
for the sake of Allaah is martyrdom, the plague is martyrdom, drowning is
martyrdom, stomach disease is martyrdom, and if a woman dies during the
post-partum period, her child will drag her to Paradise by his umbilical
cord.” The umbilical cord is that which is cut by the midwife when the
child is born. The hadeeth was narrated by Imaam Ahmad in his Musnad
with a saheeh isnaad. (al-Musnad, 3/489). There is a corroborating
report narrated by Maalik (1/233) and Abu Dawood, 3/482).

 ‘Ubaadah
ibn al-Saamit also narrated that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Who is counted as a shaheed
among you?” They said, “The one who fights and is killed for the sake
of Allaah.” The Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “Then the shaheeds among my ummah would be few. The one who
is killed for the sake of Allaah is a shaheed; the one who dies of plague
is a shaheed; the one who dies of a stomach disease is a shaheed; the
woman who dies with a child in her womb is a shaheed.” This was narrated
by Imaam Ahmad, 5/315, and by Ibn Maajah, and by Ibn Hibbaan in his Saheeh,
who said its isnaad is saheeh. A report with a similar meaning was
narrated by Muslim, as referred to above.

 With
regard to how you should take care of your daughter after her mother’s
death, this means that you should spend on her, clothe her, teach her good
manners and educate her, etc. This is obligatory upon you, and you will
have the reward for that as long as your intention is sincerely for
Allaah. But this is not counted as sponsoring an orphan, because according
to sharee’ah the orphan is the person whose father dies whilst he or she
is still a child. Muslim reported in his Saheeh that Abu Hurayrah
(may Allaah be pleased with him) said: the Messenger of Allaah
(peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The one who sponsors an
orphan, whether he belongs to him or to someone else, and I will be like
these two in Paradise” – and Maalik made a gesture with his forefinger
and middle finger. What is meant by “who belongs to him” is that the
sponsor is related to the orphan, e.g. his grandfather, mother,
grandmother, brother, sister, paternal uncle, paternal aunt, maternal
uncle, maternal aunt, or other relative. What is meant by “or to someone
else” is that the sponsor is a “stranger” (i.e., not closely
related) to the orphan. Your duty towards your daughter is to spend on her
food, drink, clothing and shelter, and take care of her Islamic
upbringing, teaching her about her religion and instilling the pure
Islamic ‘aqeedah in her heart.