I asked, "Messenger of Allah, who is most deserving of my kind treatment?"He replied, "Your mother."I asked, "Then who?"He replied, "Your mother."I asked, "Then who?"He replied, "Your mother."I asked, "Then who?"He replied, "Then your father, then the next closest relative, then the next."
قلت يا رسول الله من أبر؟ قال: أمك، قال: قلت: ثم من؟ قال: أمك، قال: قلت: ثم من؟ قال: أمك، قال: قلت ثم من؟ قال: ثم أباك، ثم الأقرب فالأقرب.
Narrated by Abu Dawud (5139), Tirmidhi (1897), Ahmad (20028), Bukhari in Adab al-Mufrad (3), and Hakim (4/150), all through routes going back to Bahz bin Hakeem, from his father, from his grandfather, who related it.Its chain is hasan because of Bahz bin Hakeem and his father, both of whom are graded hasan in hadith transmission.Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan hadith. Shubah criticized Bahz bin Hakeem, but he is considered reliable among the people of hadith, and Mamar, Thawri, Hammad bin Salama, and several other leading scholars transmitted from him."Hakim said, "This is a hadith sahih in its chain of transmission."