The Prophet ﷺ said, "The maternal aunt holds the status of the mother." The hadith contains a longer story, and this is an authentic hadith.Abu Kurayb narrated to us, Abu Muawiya narrated to us, from Muhammad bin Sawqa, from Abu Bakr bin Hafs, from Ibn Umar, that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "Messenger of Allah, I have committed a grave sin. Is there any way for me to repent?"The Prophet ﷺ asked, "Do you have a mother?"The man replied, "No."He asked, "Do you have a maternal aunt?"The man said, "Yes."The Prophet ﷺ said, "Then treat her with kindness."
حدثنا سفيان بن وكيع حدثنا أبي عن إسرائيل ح قال و حدثنا محمد بن أحمد وهو ابن مدويه حدثنا عبيد الله بن موسى عن إسرائيل واللفظ لحديث عبيد الله عن أبي إسحق الهمداني
عن النبي ﷺ قال الخالة بمنزلة الأم وفي الحديث قصة طويلة وهذا حديث صحيح حدثنا أبو كريب حدثنا أبو معاوية عن محمد بن سوقة عن أبي بكر بن حفص عن ابن عمر أن رجلا أتى النبي ﷺ فقال يا رسول الله إني أصبت ذنبا عظيما فهل لي توبة قال هل لك من أم قال لا قال هل لك من خالة قال نعم قال فبرها
[Sahih]. Bukhari also reported it in the Book of Reconciliation, chapter on how to write "This is what so-and-so bin so-and-so and so-and-so bin so-and-so agreed upon in reconciliation," even if he does not attribute him to his tribe or give his lineage, hadith 2699, from Ubaydullah bin Musa, with the same chain.The narration of Abu Muawiya Dareer was reported by Hamza bin Yusuf Sahmi in Tarikh Jurjan, page 334, hadith 611, where he explicitly stated that he heard it directly, as found in Ibn Hibban, hadith 2022, and its chain is sahih. The hadith has corroborating narrations, among them the preceding hadith. On this subject there is also a narration from Ali [Abu Dawud, hadith 2280].