The virtue of kindness to the orphan

It is narrated from Umm Sa'id bint Amr bin Murrah al-Jumahi (may Allah have mercy on her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever takes responsibility for and looks after an orphan, whether (the orphan) is his own relative or a stranger, I and he will be like these two fingers (close together) in Paradise," and he (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed to the middle finger and the index finger beside it.
Imam Abu Ya'la also narrated the like of it in his chain through Umayyah bin Bistam, Yazid bin Zuray' and Muhammad bin Amr. Muhammad bin Amr narrated it in the manner mentioned, while Imam Sufyan differed from him in narrating it from Safwan.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Murrah al-Fihri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I and the one who looks after an orphan, whether that orphan is his own close relative or a stranger, will be like these two (fingers) (close together) in Paradise," and on this occasion (the narrator of the hadith) Sufyan demonstrated by pointing with his two fingers.
Imam al-Harith also narrated this same report through Imam al-Humaydi Abdullah bin al-Zubayr. And Imam Musaddad reported this same hadith through Sufyan and added these words: "Provided that he has taqwa of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic (in the matter of guardianship)."

It is narrated from Isma'il bin Umayyah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I and the one who looks after an orphan, whether that orphan is his own (close relative) or someone else, will be like these two (fingers) (together) in Paradise, provided that he has taqwa of Allah Almighty." And Imam al-Humaydi pointed with his two fingers (to illustrate this statement).
[Musnad al-Humaydi: 2559]

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) that we were sitting in the gathering of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when a boy came to him (peace and blessings be upon him), accompanied by his sister. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, I am an orphan boy and this is my orphan sister; feed us from what Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has given you. 'A'takallahu min 'indihi hatta tarda' (May Allah Almighty give you from His presence until you are pleased)." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O boy, how beautiful is what you have said! O Bilal, go to my family and bring whatever food you find with them." Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) came with twenty-one dates. The narrator said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) placed those dates in his palm, then pointed with his blessed hand towards his blessed mouth, and we saw that he (peace and blessings be upon him) was supplicating. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Seven dates are for you, seven for your mother and seven for your sister; eat one date at the midday meal and one at the evening meal." The boy was from the children of the Muhajirun. When he got up to leave, Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) went after him, placed his hand on his head, passed it over it affectionately and said: 'Jabarallahu yutmaka ya ghulam, wa ja'alaka khalafan min abik' (O boy, may Allah Almighty make up for your orphanhood and make you the best successor of your father). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "I saw you; what was it that you did?" He said: O Messenger of Allah, I did so out of compassion and mercy for him. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One in whose Hand is my soul, whoever takes an orphan into his care, looks after and supervises him in the best way, then passes his hand over his head with affection, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, writes for him a good deed for every hair, erases a sin for every hair, and raises him a rank for every hair."
Imam al-Harith mentioned it, narrating from Yazid bin Harun, from Fa'id bin Abd al-Rahman.
Imam Abdullah bin Ahmad said in the Musnad: I found in my father's book that Yazid narrated part of this hadith. Abdullah said: My father did not narrate it, because he was not satisfied with the hadith of Fa'id, and in his view he was a matruk (abandoned) narrator.

It is narrated from Zayd bin Aslam that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I and the one who takes responsibility for and looks after an orphan will be like these two fingers (close together) in Paradise," and he (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed with his index finger and middle finger, making clear their closeness to each other.
This report is mursal.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No orphan sits with a people at their large food bowl such that Satan could then even come near their food vessel (that is, by the blessing of the orphan that food remains protected from Satan's influence)."
In the chain of this hadith, al-Hasan bin Wasil al-Basri is a da'if (weak) narrator; therefore, academically and technically, this report is weak in its chain.

Yahya bin Sa'id bin Dinar, the freed slave (mawla) of the family of al-Zubayr, narrates from a trustworthy narrator that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No house of a king or of a prophet can be more honoured and revered than a house in which there is an orphan (being raised)."
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated it in his Musnad (2563); because one narrator in its chain is unnamed (mubham), this report is da'if (weak); however, the virtue of caring for an orphan is established by other sahih hadith.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I will be the first person for whom the gate of Paradise will be opened, except that a woman will come hurrying towards me, and I will ask her: What is the matter with you, and who are you? She will reply: I am a woman who stayed sitting with my orphan children to look after and raise them."
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated it in his Musnad, and Allamah al-Albani graded its chain hasan (good) in 'Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah'.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I and the one who takes care of and looks after an orphan will be in Paradise like these two fingers (close together)," and he (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed, joining his index finger and middle finger together; "and the one who looks after the orphan, the widow and the needy, and strives to provide for their needs, is like one who fights in jihad in the way of Allah, and like the one who fasts and stands in prayer at night and never feels any laxity or weariness (in worship and devotion)."
This hadith has supporting reports in Sahih al-Bukhari (5353) and Sahih Muslim (2983), on account of which this text is sahih (authentic), although in its present chain Layth bin Abi Sulaym has been graded da'if (weak) because of his poor memory.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, there is an orphan child under my care and upbringing; may I hit him (for the sake of correcting and disciplining him)?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, you may hit him for the same matters for which you hit your own child."
The chain of this hadith contains the narrator Hajjaj bin Artat, who is a mudallis (one who conceals defects in the chain), and he did not state explicitly here that he heard it; moreover, its chain is weak because of other defects.