Maintaining Family Ties

Abu Hurairah (Radhiallahu anhu) reported :The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “He who believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him be hospitable to his guest; and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him maintain good the ties of blood relationship; and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day, must speak good or remain silent”.

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Abu Usaid Malik bin Rabi`ah As-Sa`idi (Radhiallahu anhu) reported: We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) when a man of Banu Salamah came to him and asked, “O Messenger of Allah! Is there any obedience to parents left that I can show to them after their death?” He (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) replied, “Yes, to pray for them, to supplicate for their forgiveness, to fulfill their promises after their death, to maintain the ties of kinship which cannot be maintained except through them, and honour their friends.

[Abu Dawood]

The above Ahadeeth highlight the importance of kindness to relatives. They enjoin considerate treatment to relatives and stress that one should maintain relationship with them at all costs. So much so that even if they misbehave and sever relations with him, one should make efforts to restore not only relationship with them but also their rights. This is what kindness to relatives really means. Islam has laid great stress on it.

Relatives include both paternal and maternal relatives. Rasoolullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) also orderd us to maintain ties not only with our relatives but our parent’s friends even though they are not relatives. This therefore means family will have more rights over us be it immediate family or extended family, immediate relatives or remote relatives. In essence, we need to maintain ties with all relatives, whether immediate or remote. However, the closer the family ties, the more they will have rights over us.