How can one reconcile the obligation to maintain ties of kinship with the necessity of avoiding backbiting, slander, and hurting feelings, especially when gatherings of relatives are not free of these Sharia violations, knowing that advice is of no avail? And is it permissible to avoid these gatherings to avoid sin, even if that is considered severing ties of kinship?

Maintaining kinship ties is obligatory and commendable, while backbiting and tale-bearing are forbidden by the Qur'an, Sunnah, and scholarly consensus. Allah has likened the backbiter to one who devours the flesh of his dead brother, and both the backbiter and the tale-bearer will be tormented in the Hereafter. It is obligatory to avoid gatherings in which Allah is not remembered, or which involve backbiting, tale-bearing, or other sins, for Allah the Almighty says: "then do not sit with them until they engage in another conversation. Indeed, you would then be like them." Kinship ties can be maintained through means that do not lead to prohibitions, such as by phone, gifts, or writing, while also advising and reminding of the danger of these sins.