Is a person's failure to communicate with their paternal uncles' and aunts' children and their maternal uncles and aunts, who are difficult to reach, considered a severance of kinship ties (qati'at al-rahim), knowing that they do maintain ties with their mother, brothers, sisters, and maternal uncles and aunts?

The scholars have differed regarding the definition of the kin ( رحم ) whose ties must be maintained. We have favored the prohibition of severing ties with unmarriageable kin ( ذي الرحم المحرم ) such as brothers, sisters, paternal uncles, paternal aunts, maternal uncles, and maternal aunts, and the disfavorability of severing ties with marriageable kin ( ذي الرحم غير المحرم ) such as paternal cousins and maternal cousins. The Sharia has not specified a particular method or extent for maintaining kin ties; it is achieved through visiting, calling, greeting, and anything that is customarily considered a connection. The hadith advises you: "Be moderate, draw closer [to Allah], and receive good tidings."