How can we reconcile the scholarly consensus on the permissibility of shunning for more than three days someone whose communication brings about a deficiency in religion or harm to one's self and worldly life, with the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "It is as if you are feeding them hot ashes, and you will always have a supporter from Allah" concerning one whose relatives maintain ties with him while they cut him off, and he treats them well while they treat him poorly? Is the Hadith to be interpreted as recommending maintaining ties with harmful kin, rather than obligating it, or is there a difference between harm (adha) and injury (darar), and what is the dividing line between them, with examples, especially of worldly injury and harm from righteous relatives?

It is permissible to abandon a wicked relative if advice proves fruitless, because the texts that permit abandoning a wicked person do not differentiate between a relative and a stranger. It is narrated in Sahih Muslim that Abdullah ibn Mughaffal abandoned a relative of his who used to throw pebbles [with his fingers] after he had forbidden him and the relative returned to the habit. He said to him: "I will never speak to you." Al-Nawawi commented on this hadith that it contains the permissibility of abandoning people of innovation, wickedness, and those who consistently violate the Sunnah, and that the prohibition of abandonment for more than three days applies specifically to one who abandons for personal reasons and worldly matters. The difference between harm (ḍarar) and injury (adhā) – and Allah knows best – is that injury (adhā) is minor harm.