(40) Chapter: Kind Treatment towards Parents and establishment of the ties of Blood Relationship

'Abdullah bin 'Amr Al-'as (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The person who perfectly maintains the ties of kinship is not the one who does it because he gets recompensed by his relatives (for being kind and good to them), but the one who truly maintains the bonds of kinship is the one who persists in doing so even though the latter has severed the ties of kinship with him".

[Al-Bukhari].

Commentary: This Hadith makes clear the essentials of kindness to relatives. Those kinsmen who respect and honour you, would obviously be treated by you fairly. It goes without saying that people usually reciprocate sentiments showed to them. But this is not maintaining the ties of kinship but kindness for kindness. On the opposite side, there is a kinsman who is rough and rude and is always bent upon severing relation with you, but you tolerate his excesses with patience and perseverance, return his harshness with politeness, maintain relationship with him in spite of all his efforts to break it, then what you are exercising is maintaining the ties of kinship. This is what Islam actually demands from a Muslim. But this is the excellence of Faith which one must try to attain. There is nothing remarkable in exchanging dry smiles.