Husband With Which a Wife Will Be With in Paradise

Assalâmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullâhi wa barakâtuh respected Muftî.

What is the authenticity status and explanation of the following hadith?

Hudhayfah (RA) said to his wife, “If you want to be my wife in Paradise, do not remarry after I die, for the woman in Paradise will be with the last of her

1) Will the people in Paradise generally have a choice with whom they will be married there-in or will the marriages there be organized completely according to how/whom people where married to in the dunya?

2) If I am married and die at a young age (e.g 30 years), and my wife (now a widow) wants to be my wife in jannah, will she have no other choice than remaining unmarried until her death?

3) If I am married and die at a young age (e.g 30 years), and my wife (now a widow) marries another man because she needs someone to sustain her, would it then be impossible for her to become my wife in jannah or is there any possibility that she will nevertheless be my wife in jannah?

Jazâk Allâhu khayran for your help.

Wa’alaykum as Salam wa rahmatullahi wa baraktuhu,

There are two views of ‘Ulamā on this issue. Some claim that the wife will be with that husband which she had last in this world. They base this on the fact that when Mu’āwiyyah bin Abi Sufyān proposed to marry Hujaimah bint Huyay (May Allah Ta’ala be pleased with them), the latter declined the proposal saying, “I heard Abu Dardā quoting the prophet of Allāh as saying,

“

المرأة لآخر أزواجها”

‘A woman will be with her last husband.’

“I do not want anyone else as a substitute for Abu Dardā (May Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him).”

This is an authentic narration narrated by Imām aṭ-Ṭabrāni and Abū Ya’lā with authentic narrators. (Refer to Mutālab al-‘Āliyyah 2/67 and Jāmi’ aṣ-Ṣaghīr)

A similar incident is the one you quoted from Bayhaqi with the following wording

قال الأمام البيهقي أخبرنا محمد بن عبد الله الحافظ حدثنا أبو العباس : محمد بن يعقوب حدثنا يحيى بن أبى طالب أخبرنا إسحاق بن منصور حدثنا عيسى بن عبد الرحمن السلمى عن أبى إسحاق عن صلة عن حذيفة رضى الله عنه أنه قال لامرأته : إن سرك أن تكونى زوجتى فى الجنة فلا تزوجى بعدى فإن المرأة فى الجنة لآخر أزواجها فى الدنيا فلذلك حرم على أزواج النبى -صلى الله عليه وسلم- أن ينكحن بعده لأنهن أزواجه فى الجنة. (أخرجه البيهقي في السنن الكبرى للبيهقي – 7 / 69)

“Ḥudhaifa (May Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) told his wife, ‘If you love to be my wife in Jannah, do not marry after me, for verily, a woman will be with her last husband with who she was in this world. It is for this reason that the noble consorts of Nabiصلي الله عليه وسلم were prohibited from marrying after him, so that they could enjoy his blessed company in paradise.” (Sunan al-Kubrā, 7/69)

Other scholars opine that a woman will be with that husband who she would have inevitably chosen because of his beautiful character. The basis of this view is the following Ḥadīth narrated by Imām aṭ-Ṭabrāni in al-Mu’jam al-kabīr,

قال الأمام الطبراني حدثنا محمد بن العباس المؤدب ثنا عبيد بن إسحاق العطار ثنا سنا بن هارون البرجمي عن حميد عن أنس بن مالك قال قالت أم حبيبة : يا رسول الله المرأة منا يكون لها زوجان ثم تموت فتدخل الجنة هي وزوجاها لأيهما تكون ؟ للأول أو للآخر ؟ قال : ( تخير أحسنهما خلقا كان معها في الدنيا يكون زوجها في الجنة يا أم حبيبة ذهب حسن الخلق بخير الدنيا والآخرة ) (أخرجه الطبراني في المعجم الكبير – (23 / 222)

“Anas (May Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) mentions that Umm Ḥabībah once asked Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم: ‘O Prophet of Allah, if a woman from amongst us has two husbands in this world and after her death, she and both her husbands enter paradise, with who of the two will she be? The first or
the second?’ Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم replied, ‘She will choose, the husband who had the best character with her in this world will be with her in paradise. O Umm Ḥabībah, the person who has good character will be blessed with the good in this world as well as the hereafter.” (Al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr, 23/222)

Seeing that both views are supported with Aḥādīth, the best is to leave the decision to Allāh Ta’ālā. This is an issue of the unseen which we are not obliged to delve into. Remember, a person in Jannah will not have any regrets or worries and he will be in total constant joy.