Is there a sin upon me for severing my family ties because they are far from me, and due to my work circumstances, it is difficult for me to visit them except once a year for a period of fifteen days, and I am in
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The questioner : May Allah reward you and bless you. The questioner, Abu Ahmad, asks: Is there a sin upon me for severing my family ties because they are far from me, and due to my work circumstances, it is difficult for me to visit them except once a year for a period of fifteen days, and I am in confusion about my situation?
The Shaykh : Maintaining family ties is an obligatory duty, but Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has not specified how this is to be done, neither in the Qur'an nor in the Sunnah.
So, what has become the practice among people as maintaining ties is considered maintaining ties, and this varies according to the degree of kinship, the need of the relative, the time, and the place, and the reference for this is custom.
It is known that one who is a long distance from his relatives—and by relatives, we mean close kin—will not be able to visit them every week, and perhaps not even every month. But in our current time, and praise be to Allah, the means of maintaining ties are many; he can pick up the phone and call them if he wishes, every day. So, the important point is that maintaining ties is not defined by the Shari'ah, but it is referred to custom.
The Shaykh : Maintaining family ties is an obligatory duty, but Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has not specified how this is to be done, neither in the Qur'an nor in the Sunnah.
So, what has become the practice among people as maintaining ties is considered maintaining ties, and this varies according to the degree of kinship, the need of the relative, the time, and the place, and the reference for this is custom.
It is known that one who is a long distance from his relatives—and by relatives, we mean close kin—will not be able to visit them every week, and perhaps not even every month. But in our current time, and praise be to Allah, the means of maintaining ties are many; he can pick up the phone and call them if he wishes, every day. So, the important point is that maintaining ties is not defined by the Shari'ah, but it is referred to custom.