Bukhari

Hadith Commentary:
Through this action, the person will receive the righteous supplications of relatives, which will become a source of blessings for him.

«البر» With the kasrah on the letter "ba", it means to do a great deal of good, truthfulness, obedience, and to show kindness to someone, especially to one's parents. Generally, showing kindness to parents is called «بِرٌّ». With the fathah on the letter "ba", «بر» means one who does a great deal of good; this is an attribute of Allah Ta'ala because He bestows immense favor upon His creation.

Regarding Yahya alayhis salam, it is stated: «وبرا بوالديه» "He was extremely good to his parents." In contrast, mistreatment and causing harm, especially to one's parents, is called «عقوق», and the one who does so is called «عاق».

«صِلَةٌ وَصَلَ يَصِلَ وَصْلاً» is a verbal noun, just as the verbal noun of «وَعَدَ يَعِدُ» is «وَعْدًا» and «عِدَةً» is also used. Its literal meaning is to join, to graft, to connect. Here, it refers to maintaining good relations with one's relatives, spending on them, keeping in contact with them, and showing kindness to them even if they show indifference. The opposite of maintaining family ties (silat ar-rahm) is severing them (qat‘ ar-rahm).

The Benefits of Maintaining Family Ties

Takhrij (Source):
[بخاري 5985],
In Fath al-Bari, it is mentioned «مَنْ اَحَبَّ» that the narration is from Anas, while the narration of Abu Hurayrah is «مَنْ سَرَّهُ».

Vocabulary
«ينسا» is from the baab of «مَنَعَ يَمْنَعُ», meaning "to delay."

«اَثَرِهِ» The trace of footsteps is called "athar." The meaning here is that his life will remain for a long time, i.e., his lifespan will be increased, because a person's footprints are left on the earth only as long as he is alive. Or it means that his legacy will remain in the world for a long time.

«رَحِمَهُ رَحِم» Originally refers to the womb. Here, it means the kinship that is established between people due to being born from the same womb.

Benefits:
➊ By showing kindness to relatives, sustenance (rizq) is expanded and lifespan is increased. Some people have a question regarding this hadith: when sustenance is already decreed in destiny and only that much will be received as is written, and likewise lifespan is already determined,

«فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَجَلُهُمْ لَا يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً وَلَا يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ» [7-الأعراف:34]

"When their appointed time comes, they will not be able to delay it by a single moment, nor advance it."

So how can sustenance be expanded and lifespan increased by showing kindness to relatives?

The answer is that Allah Ta'ala has already written in destiny the causes for the expansion of sustenance and the increase of lifespan. For example, the person who works hard and acts wisely will receive abundant sustenance, and the one who is lazy and negligent will become destitute. Similarly, good food, good air, and a good environment are causes for maintaining health, which leads to a longer life. A poor and unsuitable environment causes illness and distress, which shortens life.

Just as there are apparent causes for the increase of sustenance and lifespan, there are also spiritual and divine causes, which the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has mentioned in this hadith. Whoever treats his relatives well will attain peace of heart, inner happiness, and blessing in his precious time, and whatever work he does, he will do it with focus. This will lead to an expansion in his sustenance, and peace of heart is the foundation of health. When health is good, lifespan increases. On the contrary, the unfortunate one who is cut off from his own relatives will always be in grief and sorrow, always preoccupied with trying to belittle his relatives. This severing of ties will neither let him succeed in worldly matters nor in religious ones. His temperament will become irritable, and his strength will be depleted. The result will manifest as failure in business and distressing illnesses, which will constrict his sustenance and ruin his health, and these very things bring a person closer to death.

The reality is that the Creator of all causes, the Lord, has promised that whoever maintains good relations with his relatives, his sustenance will be expanded and his lifespan increased. Just as He has promised that whoever believes and does righteous deeds will enter Paradise, even though the names of those who will enter Paradise and those who will enter Hell have already been written in destiny. But faith and righteous deeds are the cause for entering Paradise, and likewise, maintaining family ties is the cause for the expansion of sustenance and the prolongation of life.

In Tirmidhi, with another chain from Abu Hurayrah radi Allahu anhu, these words are also mentioned: «فإن صلة الرحم محبة فى الاهل مثراة فى المال منساة فى الاثر» "Maintaining family ties brings love among family members, abundance in wealth, and delay in the trace of footsteps (blessing in lifespan)." [ترمذي البر49], [صحيح الترمذي1612]

➋ «وينساله فى اثره» and that his trace of footsteps is delayed. Several things are included in its meaning. The first is that the person who maintains family ties is granted an actual increase in lifespan; its details have already been mentioned above. The second is that his life is blessed; his time is not wasted, rather Allah Ta'ala grants him the blessing of well-being, and enables him to do more good deeds in less time, so that this short life surpasses even a long life in terms of reward and merit. Just as Allah Ta'ala, in comparison to the very long lifespans of previous nations, has kept the lifespan of this Ummah very short, but compensated for this deficiency with Laylat al-Qadr, and in fact, made the reward of this Ummah greater than that of previous nations. The reality is that if a person is given a thousand years of life but is not granted the ability to do good, then his life is actually shortened, even ruined. And whoever is granted the ability to do good, even if his life is short, his life is increased because it has become beneficial.

The third is that he is enabled to do such deeds that even after his death, he continues to receive their reward, and people continue to pray for him, and his good reputation continues to be mentioned, as if he does not die even after death—his traces remain. For example, he leaves behind knowledge from which people continue to benefit, ongoing charity (sadaqah jariyah), righteous children who pray for him, or he dies in the state of ribat (standing guard in jihad), so that his reward continues until the Day of Judgment.

➌ The real reward for maintaining family ties will be given in the Hereafter, but the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has mentioned these worldly benefits as well. From this, it is understood that if a person, while doing a good deed, intends to attain its benefit in this world as well as its reward in the Hereafter, there is no harm in that. For example, by giving charity, wealth increases in this world and it is also a means of protection from Hellfire. The condition is that only the world should not be his sole objective. Allah Ta'ala says:

«فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُم مَّنَاسِكَكُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّـهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ آبَاءَكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا فَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَقُولُ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَاقٍ ٭ وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَقُولُ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ ٭ أُولَـئِكَ لَهُمْ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا كَسَبُوا وَاللَّـهُ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ» [2-البقرة:200]

"So among mankind is he who says, 'Our Lord, give us in this world,' and he will have no share in the Hereafter. And among them is he who says, 'Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and save us from the punishment of the Fire.' For them there will be a share of what they have earned, and Allah is swift in account."