Ahmad 6524

Its chain of transmission is sahih. Fitr, with a kasrah on the fa and a sukun on the plain ta, is Ibn Khalifa Hannat Kufi. We have already established his reliability at 730 and 773, and we add here that he was deemed reliable by Ahmad, Yahya Qattan, Ibn Main, and others. Bukhari mentioned him in al-Kabir, 4/1/139, and Ibn Abu Hatim in al-Jarh wal-Tadil, 3/2/90.As for the first part of the hadith, "the womb is suspended from the throne," none of the authors of the six books recorded it. It appears in Majma al-Zawaid, 150, where it is stated, "Ahmad and Tabarani related it, and its narrators are trustworthy."The rest of it was related by Bukhari in the Sahih, 10:355, through the route of Thawri, from Amash, Hasan bin Amr Fuqaymi, and Fitr bin Khalifa, all three from Mujahid, from Ibn Amr. Thawri said, "Amash did not attribute it as a raised report to the Prophet ﷺ, while Hasan and Fitr did attribute it as raised to the Prophet ﷺ." Bukhari likewise related it in Adab al-Mufrad (p. 13) with the same chain as in the Sahih.Abu Dawud related it at 1697 (2:60, 610) with Bukhari's chain. Tirmidhi related it at 3:118-119 through the route of Thawri, from Bishr Abu Ismail and Fitr bin Khalifa, both from Mujahid, as a raised report, and he said, "This is a hasan sahih hadith."The entire hadith was also related by Abu Naeem in al-Hilya, 3:301, through the route of Khallad bin Yahya, from Fitr, with this chain. In it, the name of the companion appeared as Abdullah bin Umar, which is a printing error, to be corrected based on this present source.The Hafiz pointed out this narration of Ahmad's in al-Fath, saying, "Ahmad related it from a group of his teachers, from Fitr, as a raised report, adding at the beginning of the hadith, 'The womb is suspended from the throne, and the one who truly maintains ties of kinship is not the one who merely reciprocates,'" and so on.Regarding his statement, "the one who truly maintains ties is not the one who merely reciprocates," the Hafiz explained, "That is, one who gives to another only the equivalent of what that other gave him." Abdul-Razzaq related from Umar, as a report attributed to him alone, "The one who maintains ties of kinship is not one who maintains ties with those who maintain ties with him, for that is merely requital, but rather the one who truly maintains ties is one who maintains ties with those who cut him off."The Hafiz quoted from Tibi, who said, "The meaning is that the true reality of maintaining ties is not one who reciprocates his companion with the like of what he did, but rather one who is generous toward his companion beyond what is due."