Cutting Off One’s Children When They Cut Off Their Mother
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh! If a mother is cut off by her children by severing ties with her, is it permissible for her to cut them off and not maintain ties with them?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible for a person to sever his family ties if they sever his. Rather, if his family ties are severed, he should maintain them, and he should not respond to ill treatment with ill treatment. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 5991. As for the one who only maintains ties with those who maintain ties with him, that is not maintaining ties; that is reciprocity. But the correct maintaining of ties is to maintain ties with the one who has cut you off. That is the correct maintaining of ties, and it indicates sincerity to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). As for the one who says, “You maintained ties with me, so I maintained ties with you,” that is reciprocity. Yes.
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says:Sunan al-Bayhaqi 10:623.
Honorable Shaykh! If a mother is cut off by her children by severing ties with her, is it permissible for her to cut them off and not maintain ties with them?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible for a person to sever his family ties if they sever his. Rather, if his family ties are severed, he should maintain them, and he should not respond to ill treatment with ill treatment. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Al-Wasil is not the one who recompenses the good done to him by his relatives, but Al-Wasil is the one who keeps good relations with those relatives who had severed the bond of kinship with him.
ليس الواصل بالمكافئ، ولكن الواصل الذي إذا قطعت رحمه وصلهاThe questioner:
Honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says:
The one who maintains ties is not the one who reciprocates, but the one who maintains ties when his family ties are severed.
لَيْسَ الْوَاصِلُ بِالْمُكَافِي وَلَكِنَّ الْوَاصِلَ مَنْ إِذَا قُطِعَتْ رَحِمُهُ وَصَلَهَا
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، باب البر والصلة — islamhouse.com (1:10:58)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.