The Maternal Aunt in Islam

Every Muslim knows the status of the mother in Islam inasmuch as every Muslim knows that "Heaven is under the Mother's feet." The status of the Mother is so great that, by extension, solely because she is the Mother's sister, the Maternal Aunt also has important place in Islam.

Lets examine this first Hadith:

On the authority of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said:
“O Messenger of Allaah, I have committed a grievous sin; can I repent?’
He asked: “Do you have a mother?”

The man said: “No.”
The Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) asked the man: “Do you have a maternal aunt?”
He said: “Yes.”
Allah's Prophet (Peace be upon Him) said to him: “Then honour her.”
- In another translation Allah's Prophet (Peace be upon Him) said to him: "Be good and kind to her."
[References: Tirmidhi #3975, Tirmidhi# 1904, Ibn Hibban #435, Classified as Saheeh Hadith by al-Albaani]

The aunt also has kinship rights because she is a close relative, even if she is a kaafir. Lets now examine this Hadith concerning Asma', whose mother was a Non-Muslim.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to Asma’ (may Allah be pleased with her): “Uphold the ties of kinship with your mother.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2620; Muslim, 1003.

'The ties of kinship' in Arabic refers not only to the mother, but also generalizable to the mother's side of the family.

These next Hadith pack a punch and get straight to the heart of the matter at hand.

The Prophet of Allah (Peace be upon Him) said: “The maternal aunt is like the mother.” [Bukhaari, 2700]

Also,

"The sister of the mother has a status similar to the mother."
[Bukhari #2552]

Also,

Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib, The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The maternal aunt is like mother." [sunnan Abu Dawood #2271 and #2273]

Then for those who can read Arabic, there is this Hadith concerning Maternal Aunt which I am too lazy to translate right now:

عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال الخالة بمنزلة الأم http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&BookID=26&TOCID=1305

Bottom line: If you're a good Muslim, be good to your Maternal Auntie!