His
      wife died following childbirth – is she a shaheedah (martyr)?
Question

                My wife (may Allaah have
      mercy on her) died two hours after giving birth to my daughter. Is my wife
      considered to be a shaheedah (martyr)? What are my duties towards her
      daughter? Am I counted as one who sponsors an orphan?
Praise be to Allah.If
      a woman dies with a child in her womb, or she dies during childbirth or
      after childbirth but within the period of nifaas (post-partum bleeding),
      she is considered to be a shaheedah in sha Allaah. Raashid ibn Hubaysh
      narrated that the Messenger of Allaah 
 (peace and blessings of Allaah
      be upon him) entered upon ‘Ubaadah ibn al-Saamit when he was sick and
      said, “Do you know who is a shaheed (martyr) in my ummah?”The people remained silent, then ‘Ubaadah said, “Help me to sit
      up.” They helped him to sit up, then he said, “O Messenger of Allaah,
      (is it) the patient one who seeks reward from Allaah for his patience?”
      The Messenger of Allaah 
 (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
      said, “Then the martyrs among my ummah would be very few. Being killed
      for the sake of Allaah is martyrdom, the plague is martyrdom, drowning is
      martyrdom, stomach disease is martyrdom, and if a woman dies during the
      post-partum period, her child will drag her to Paradise by his umbilical
      cord.” The umbilical cord is that which is cut by the midwife when the
      child is born. The hadeeth was narrated by Imaam Ahmad in his Musnad
      with a saheeh isnaad. (al-Musnad, 3/489). There is a corroborating
      report narrated by Maalik (1/233) and Abu Dawood, 3/482).
 ‘Ubaadah
      ibn al-Saamit also narrated that the Messenger of Allaah 
 (peace and
      blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Who is counted as a shaheed
      among you?” They said, “The one who fights and is killed for the sake
      of Allaah.” The Messenger 
 (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
      him) said: “Then the shaheeds among my ummah would be few. The one who
      is killed for the sake of Allaah is a shaheed; the one who dies of plague
      is a shaheed; the one who dies of a stomach disease is a shaheed; the
      woman who dies with a child in her womb is a shaheed.” This was narrated
      by Imaam Ahmad, 5/315, and by Ibn Maajah, and by Ibn Hibbaan in his Saheeh,
      who said its isnaad is saheeh. A report with a similar meaning was
      narrated by Muslim, as referred to above.
 With
      regard to how you should take care of your daughter after her mother’s
      death, this means that you should spend on her, clothe her, teach her good
      manners and educate her, etc. This is obligatory upon you, and you will
      have the reward for that as long as your intention is sincerely for
      Allaah. But this is not counted as sponsoring an orphan, because according
      to sharee’ah the orphan is the person whose father dies whilst he or she
      is still a child. Muslim reported in his Saheeh that Abu Hurayrah
      (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: the Messenger of Allaah 
 (peace
      and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The one who sponsors an
      orphan, whether he belongs to him or to someone else, and I will be like
      these two in Paradise” – and Maalik made a gesture with his forefinger
      and middle finger. What is meant by “who belongs to him” is that the
      sponsor is related to the orphan, e.g. his grandfather, mother,
      grandmother, brother, sister, paternal uncle, paternal aunt, maternal
      uncle, maternal aunt, or other relative. What is meant by “or to someone
      else” is that the sponsor is a “stranger” (i.e., not closely
      related) to the orphan. Your duty towards your daughter is to spend on her
      food, drink, clothing and shelter, and take care of her Islamic
      upbringing, teaching her about her religion and instilling the pure
      Islamic ‘aqeedah in her heart.