What is the ruling on visiting relatives?

Not all relatives are on the same level. Some must be maintained ties with (wajib), and these are all those with whom marriage is forbidden (dhī raḥim maḥram). Others are recommended to maintain ties with (mustaḥabb), and these are those between whom marriage is permissible. The nature of maintaining ties (ṣilah) varies according to people's customs and norms, and it has degrees, some higher than others.

Al-Nawawi quoted Qadi Iyad as saying: "Maintaining ties (ṣilah) has degrees, some higher than others. The lowest degree is to avoid abandoning them and to maintain ties with them through speech, even if it is just by offering salaam. This varies according to ability and need. Some are obligatory (wajib) and some are recommended (mustaḥabb). If one maintains some ties but does not reach their full extent, he is not called a severer (qāṭiʿ). If he falls short of what he is able to do and what he ought to do, he is not called a maintainer (wāṣil)."

Visiting relatives with whom ties must be maintained is obligatory if one is able to do so, and without it, one falls into the severing of kinship ties (qaṭīʿat al-raḥim). Otherwise, it is recommended. What is obligatory is to maintain kinship ties through visitation and gifting, or by assisting them in their affairs, or by writing if one is absent. Visitation may be prohibited if it cannot be done except by witnessing an evil (munkar) or participating in it.