While I was sitting with Abu Hurairah, a Persian woman came with a son of hers, and both she and her husband were claiming him. Her husband had divorced her.She said, "Abu Hurairah," speaking in Persian, "my husband wants to take my son away."Abu Hurairah said, replying to her in Persian as well, "Cast lots over him."Then her husband came and said, "Who is disputing with me over my child?"Abu Hurairah said, "By Allah, I would not say this except that I heard a woman who came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while I was sitting with him. She said, 'Messenger of Allah, my husband wants to take my son away, though he has drawn water for me from the well of Abu Inabah and has been good to me.'The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'Cast lots over him.'Her husband said, 'Who is disputing with me over my child?'The Prophet ﷺ said to the boy, 'This is your father, and this is your mother. Take whichever of their hands you wish.'So he took his mother's hand, and she went off with him."
بينما أنا جالس مع أبي هريرة، جاءت امرأة فارسية معها ابن لها فادعياه. وقد طلقها زوجها فقالت: يا أبا هريرة- ورطنت بالفارسية- زوجي يريد أن يذهب بابني؟ فقال أبو هريرة: استهما عليه. ورطن لها بذلك. فجاء زوجها فقال: من يحاقني في ولدي؟ فقال أبو هريرة: اللهم إني لا أقول هذا إلا أني سمعت امرأة جاءت إلى رسول الله ﷺ وأنا قاعد عنده- فقالت: يا رسول الله! إن زوجي يريد أن يذهب بابني، وقد سقاني من بئر أبي عنبة، وقد نفعني. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: استهما عليهفقال زوجها: من يحاني في ولدي؟ فقال النبي ﷺ: هذا أبوك، وهذه أمك، فخذ بيد أيهما شئت فأخذ بيد أمه فانطلقت به.
Abu Dawud (2277) and Nasai (3496) narrated it, and Hakim (4/97) and Bayhaqi (38) graded it sahih, all of them from the hadith of Ibn Jurayj, who said, "Ziyad told me, from Hilal bin Usama, that Abu Maymuna Salma said," then he mentioned it. Hakim said, "The isnad is sahih."Tirmidhi (1357), Ibn Majah (2351), Ahmad (7352), and Bayhaqi all narrated it through another route, from Sufyan bin Uyayna, from Ziyad bin Saad, from Hilal bin Abu Maymuna, from Abu Maymuna, and he mentioned it briefly. Tirmidhi said, "Hasan sahih."I say, Hilal bin Abu Maymuna is not the "Ibn Abu Maymuna" who appears in the isnad, for Hilal bin Abu Maymuna is Hilal bin Ali bin Usama, Amiri, Qurashi, Madani, who is attributed to his grandfather, as was mentioned in the previous narration. Abu Maymuna is Farsi, Madani, the well-digger. It is said that his name was Sulaym, or Salman, or Salma, or Usama. He narrates from Abu Hurairah and others, and he is not the father of Hilal bin Abu Maymuna, as occurs in a narration transmitted by Bayhaqi in the hadith of Sufyan bin Uyayna, so it appears that this is either an error or an anomaly.This hadith is to be understood as referring to the boy who has reached the age of reason and no longer needs custodial care, for when that is the case, he is given the choice between his parents. Shafii and Ahmad held this view. Shafii said, "When he becomes seven or eight years old, he is given the choice," and Ahmad said, "When he grows older, he is given the choice." Those who did not hold this view considered the father to have more right to him, because the child needs the father more than the mother for education, livelihood, and other matters.