Aslam

Praise be to Allah.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.