Ramdan Selections 1447H- Lesson 30: Maintaining Kinship Ties Generates Mutual Counsel and Support
- Ramadan Lectures
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- 26.Ramadan Selections
In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Maintaining kinship ties generates mutual counsel and support:
The closest form of kinship is that of blood ties. Maintaining these ties is done by visiting relatives, checking on their conditions, asking about them, giving them gifts, giving Sadaqah to their poor, dealing gently with their dignified and wealthy ones, honoring their elders, and showing mercy to their young.
They are also maintained by hosting them, welcoming them warmly, honoring them, sharing in their moments of joy, and consoling them in times of grief.
Kinship ties are also maintained through Du'a (supplication) for one's relatives, having a pure heart toward them, having sincere concern for advising them, calling them to goodness, enjoining them to Ma'ruf (what is right), forbidding them from Munkar (what is wrong), and reconciling between them when discord arises.
A brother once told me, "I used to live in a house, which was actually a second-level basement apartment, north-facing, seventy square meters in size, and extremely damp. My children suffered from many illnesses because of it. By Allah, the first thing that crossed my mind when you once talked about maintaining kinship ties was visiting one of my relatives. He was not home, so I left him a card."
Apparently, his relative felt obliged to return the visit. The man went on saying, "After Eid, he came and saw the conditions of my house. He said, 'This place is unfit for living.' With remarkable nobility and genuine concern for my children, he told me, 'Look for a house costing two million liras, and I will buy it for you'."
The story took place many years ago. The man continued, "By Allah, Allah honored me with a fourth-floor apartment, south-facing. We moved in, and our lives were completely transformed because of that single act of maintaining kinship ties."
In fact, maintaining kinship ties means that the strong among relatives support the weak, the wealthy support the poor, and the knowledgeable support the ignorant.
I believe that maintaining kinship ties is a very profound and demanding responsibility. People have reduced it to a brief visit with a card—sometimes hoping not to find the person at home—leaving the card and considering the matter finished, as if the meaning of maintaining these ties has been hollowed out.
In my view, maintaining kinship ties means truly visiting, checking on a relative's livelihood, upbringing, religious state, and social circumstances, and offering whatever help one can—especially financial support—in a wise, gentle, and dignified way. For example: a gift at the beginning of the school year, a gift during seasons of certain acts of worship, financial support on Eid, or helping their children in some classes.
