وعن جبير بن مطعم رضى الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: لا يدخل الجنة قاطع يعني قاطع رحم.
“Jubair bin Mut’im (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘The one who severs will not enter Paradise,’ that is, the one who severs ties of kinship.”
Takhrij:
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Benefits:
➊ In the Quran, a curse is threatened upon those who sever ties of kinship and cause corruption on earth:
وَيَقْطَعُونَ مَا أَمَرَ اللَّـهُ بِهِ أَن يُوصَلَ
“And those who break what Allah has commanded to be joined.”
And He said:
فَهَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِن تَوَلَّيْتُمْ أَن تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَتُقَطِّعُوا أَرْحَامَكُمْ ٭ أُولَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّـهُ فَأَصَمَّهُمْ وَأَعْمَى أَبْصَارَهُمْ
“So is it to be expected of you that, if you were to take authority, you would cause corruption on earth and sever your ties of kinship? Those are the ones whom Allah has cursed, so He has made them deaf and blinded their vision.”
➋ Which kinship is meant by maintaining ties of kinship? The reality is that kinship has several degrees.
The first is that there is a kinship between them which makes marriage between them forbidden, meaning that if one of them were a man and the other a woman, they could not marry. For example, a paternal uncle, a paternal aunt and their nephew, a maternal uncle, a maternal aunt and their nephew: this is a kinship such that if these two relatives were supposed to be women, it would not be permissible to join them in one man’s marriage. Its example is that it is forbidden to join a woman and her paternal aunt, or a woman and her maternal aunt, in one marriage like two sisters, because this carries the risk of severing kinship between them. Those relatives between whom marriage is possible, such as a person and the children of his paternal uncle, paternal aunt, maternal uncle and maternal aunt, are not bound by the kinship that is most delicate, which breaks upon joining in one marriage and upon divorce or khula.
The second is that they inherit from one another. It is clearly evident that the kinship which an heir receives is not received by a non-heir, otherwise Allah would also have made them heirs.
The third is that kinship is acquired for any reason other than these two. Among these, the greatest right is that of the mother, then that of the father, and then, according to their ranks, that of other relatives, that ties of kinship be maintained with them. Although maintaining ties of kinship is the right of all relatives, the right increases progressively by degree.
➌ The minimum degree of maintaining ties of kinship is that the exchange of greetings and speech between them continues. If even this does not remain, then what kind of maintaining of ties is it? After this, looking after the circumstances of relatives, helping them with wealth and person, and overlooking their mistakes are various forms of maintaining ties of kinship.
➍ The maintaining of ties of kinship which Allah desires from us has been explained by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:
ليس الواصل بالمكافئ، ولكن الواصل الذى إذا قطعت رحمه وصلها
“The one who maintains ties of kinship is not the one who returns the same treatment, but the true one who maintains ties of kinship is the one who, when his ties of kinship are severed, joins them.”
➎ Treatment of relatives has three levels:
Silat al-rahm: when relatives cut off relations, he joins them and treats them well.
Mukafat: when relatives treat him well, he treats them well.
Qat’ al-rahm: he cuts off relations with relatives, whether because they treat him badly, or he cuts off relations despite their treating him well. In any case, if he treats them badly after they have treated him well and breaks off the connection, this is the worst form of severing kinship. If both sides sever relations, the worst is the one who initiates severing the relationship.
➏ Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that a man said: “I have relatives with whom I maintain ties, but they sever ties with me; I do good to them, but they treat me badly; I show forbearance towards them, but they behave ignorantly towards me.” So the Prophet ﷺ said:
ان كنت كما قلت فكانما تسفهم المل ولا يزال معك من الله ظهير عليهم ما دمت على ذلك
“If it is as you say, then it is as if you are feeding them hot ash, and as long as you continue upon this, there will always be a helper from Allah with you against them.”
➐ The meaning of “The one who severs ties of kinship will not enter Paradise” is that whoever, after hearing the commands of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ that severing ties of kinship is forbidden, considers it lawful, will never enter Paradise, because one who regards as lawful what Allah has made unlawful no longer remains a Muslim.
As for one who does not consider it lawful but regards it as forbidden, yet due to some reason commits this sin, he will not be among the fortunate ones who enter Paradise at the very beginning. This meaning is explained because believers who commit major sins will not remain in Hell forever.
