What is the ruling of Islamic law regarding grandparents who do not visit the children of their deceased son and abandon their responsibility towards them, leaving their son's widow to suffer immensely in raising them, while they have taken the inheritance and enjoyed it, and given it to their (other) son, knowing that the children also have paternal uncles who do not bother to even call them by phone, and they are all in the same town?

The abandonment of grandchildren by grandparents and of nephews by their paternal uncles is considered a severance of kinship ties (qati’at rahim), which is one of the major sins as indicated by the Qur’an and Sunnah (definition). Allah Almighty says: "So, would you, if you turned away, cause corruption in the land and sever your ties of kinship? Those are the ones whom Allah has cursed, so He made them deaf and blinded their vision." Grandchildren, before reaching puberty, have a confirmed right upon their paternal grandfather for guidance and care, and for financial support if they are poor and unable to provide for themselves. The mother is advised to fear Allah and not respond to ill-treatment in kind, and to raise her children to maintain kinship ties and visit their grandparents and paternal uncles to gain reward and recompense.