Adab al-Mufrad

Benefits and Issues:
➊ Imam Bukhari rahimahullah has established the chapter that Allah loves the one who maintains ties of kinship (silat ar-rahm), whereas the presented narration mentions the love of the people of the household. The correspondence with the chapter is that the one who performs this deed is certainly beloved to Allah, provided he is characterized by the attribute of faith. If even an immoral person maintains ties of kinship, he too receives this reward, but he receives the recompense for his good deed quickly in this world; it is not due to Allah’s love.

➋ In the aforementioned ahadith, this reward for maintaining ties of kinship has been mentioned, whereas in the narration from Ibn Umar radi Allahu anhuma, the fear of Allah (taqwa) is also mentioned. Maintaining ties of kinship is itself a sign of the fear of Allah, because maintaining ties of kinship is impossible without the fear of Allah. Certainly, only a God-fearing (muttaqi) person will maintain ties of kinship with sincerity and will not remind others of his favors.

➌ The fear of Allah (taqwa) makes a person beloved to everyone, because when a person fears Allah, he fulfills the rights of all his relatives and close ones. Even if the family members do not fulfill his rights, taqwa and piety prevent him from rivalry and compel him to good conduct, and he is, in the true sense, one who maintains ties of kinship. When a person fulfills the rights of others and does not demand his own rights, the family members inevitably come to love him.

➍ Taqwa is derived from “wiqayah,” which contains the meanings of protection and avoidance. In the legal (shar‘i) terminology, protecting oneself from those matters which are harmful in the Hereafter is called taqwa, and also performing those deeds which are commanded is included in the meaning of taqwa. In Urdu, generally the word “piety” is used for this. The meaning of the fear of Allah is that there is fear of Allah in a person’s heart, but along with this fear, there is also reverence. In this world, whatever a person fears, he runs away from it, but the more a person fears Allah, the closer he becomes to Allah. In the Noble Qur’an, Allah has repeatedly enjoined the believers to have taqwa. There are three levels of taqwa:
* To avoid shirk in order to be saved from eternal punishment.
* To abandon every act which, if done, makes a person sinful, and to perform every act which, if left undone, makes a person sinful.
* To abandon those things which make a person heedless of Allah. Sometimes, this even includes abandoning permissible (mubah) things. (al-Baydawi)