Reports on kindness and keeping ties of kinship

Abu Salamah bin Abd al-Rahman said that Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) visited Abu al-Raddad when he was ill, and he said: "The best of them and the one who most maintains the ties of kinship is Abu Muhammad," meaning Ibn Awf: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: 'Allah said: I am Allah and I am al-Rahman, and this is al-rahim (the tie of kinship). I have derived for it a name from My own name. So whoever maintains it, I will join him, and whoever severs it, I will cut him off.'"

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Kinship is suspended from the Throne of Allah and says: Whoever treats his relatives with kindness, Allah will show him favour, and whoever cuts off relations, Allah will cut off His mercy from him."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah, the people hurried to him. He says: I too came to him. When I looked at him, I recognised that his face was not the face of a liar, and the first thing I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say was: "O people, spread the greeting of peace, maintain the ties of kinship, feed people, and pray at night while people are asleep."

Abu Marwan said that Ka'b said: By the One who split the sea for the Children of Israel, it is written in the Torah: "O son of Adam, fear your Lord, treat your parents with kindness, and maintain the ties of kinship with your relatives; I will lengthen your life, make things easy for you, and turn your hardships away from you."

Maghra' said that Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: Whoever fears his Lord and maintains the ties of kinship with his relatives, his life is prolonged, his wealth increases, and his family love him.

Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Qarib said: I heard Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) say in his eloquent tongue: Kinship is suspended from the Throne of Allah and supplicates in its eloquent tongue: "O Allah, be kind to the one who maintains the ties of kinship, and cut off mercy from the one who severs them."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Kinship will be placed on the Day of Resurrection with iron at its head, like the iron at the head of a spindle, and it will speak in a most eloquent tongue. It will then join the one who joined it and cut off the one who severed it."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Kinship is a branch from al-Rahman. It will come on the Day of Resurrection and say: O Lord, I was severed! O Lord, I was wronged! O Lord, I was treated badly!"

Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Kinship is a branch holding on to the hujzah (waist-wrap) of al-Rahman, pleading for its right. So He says: 'Are you not pleased that I join the one who joins you and cut off the one who cuts you off? Whoever joins you has joined Me, and whoever cuts you off has cut Me off.'"

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, kinship is suspended from the Throne of Allah. The one who maintains the ties of kinship is not the one who merely reciprocates; rather, the one who maintains them is the one who, when someone severs kinship with him, joins it again with him."

Sayyidah Durrah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I asked: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who is the most pious of people?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The one among them who most enjoins what is good, forbids what is evil, and treats his relatives with kindness."