Relatives who are close to you, such as your brother, your paternal uncle, your maternal uncle and their children, and all those who have a (family) bond with you, have a right over you according to their kinship. Allah says,
{Give the kinsman his due…} (Soorah Al-Isrâ’, 127 :26)
{And serve Allah. Ascribe no thing as partner unto Him. (Show) kindness unto parents…} (Soorah An-Nisâ, 4 :36)
Each close relative must maintain the ties binding him to others, by honoring him, helping him physically and materially, depending on the degree of kinship and on the need: that is asked by the Legislation, the reason and the sound nature.
Maintaining the Kinship
The (revealed) Texts encouraging to maintain the ties of kinship are very numerous. In two collections of authentic Hadith (Sâheeh Al-Bukhârîand Muslim), it is reported by Abû Hurayrah (t) that the Prophet (r) said, ‘Allah created the creations, and when He finished, the bonds of kinship raised up and said, ‘It is the place (the Paradise) of those who seek refuge with You against the breaking of the bonds (of kinship).’ He said, ‘Yes, would you like that I maintain the bonds with the one who maintains it with You and that I break with the one who broke with You?’ The bonds of kinship said, ‘Indeed!’ Allah said, ‘Then I grant it to you.’ Then the Messenger of Allah (r) said, ‘Read Allah’s word’,
{Would ye then, if you were given the command, work corruption in the land and sever your ties of kinship? Such are they whom Allah curses so that he deafens them and makes blind their eyes.} (Soorah Muhammad, 47 :22-23).
And the Prophet (ﷺ) also said, ‘Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him maintain the bonds of kinship’.
Many people overlook this right and ignore it; some maintain no relationship with their parents by helping them with their belongings, giving them respect, nor by having a good behavior. The days and months pass without them seeing their loved ones, they do not visit them, do not show affection towards them by offering them a gift or giving them something they need. On the contrary, they can cause them harm with their words or acts or both together. They maintain bonds with people outside the family and neglect their families.
Others only maintain bonds with their relatives if the latter maintain this bond themselves, and those do not really maintain the ties of kinship: they only repay good with good and this is not specific to the relatives: this kind of relationship can affect anyone outside the family and the relatives.
Sayings of Prophet ﷺ About the Rights of Relatives
The one who really keeps the ties of kinship is the one who does it for Allah, without looking if relatives also maintain these bonds or not, as it is narrated in Saheeh Al-Bukhârî, from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-‘Âs (R.A), who reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘The one who maintains the ties of kinship is not the one who reciprocates. The one who maintains the ties of kinship is the one who, when his relatives cut him off, maintains the ties of kinship’.
A man said to the Prophet (ﷺ), ‘I have relatives with whom I try to keep the ties of relationship but they sever relations with me; and whom I treat kindly but they treat me badly, I am gentle with them but they are rough to me.’ He (ﷺ) replied, ‘If you are as you say, it is as if you are feeding them hot ashes, and you will be with a supporter against them from Allah as long as you continue to do so’.
It would have sufficed to uphold the ties of kinship, to know that Allah maintains His bond with the one who preserve them, that He grants him mercy, makes things easier for him and soothes his difficulties.
But beyond this, to uphold the ties of kinship gets families closer, provides affection, sympathy, mutual assistance in difficulties, the joy and rejoicing as it is well known.
And all these blessings are reversed when appears the breakdown and when people are moving away from each other.
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