Is maintaining ties with one's cousins (the children of one's maternal aunts or paternal uncles) without maintaining ties with their parents (the maternal aunt or paternal uncle) considered an act of upholding kinship ties (Silat al-Rahim)?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
Maintaining ties with paternal and maternal uncles and aunts is obligatory and cannot be replaced by maintaining ties with their children (cousins), which is considered supererogatory. Scholars have divided kinship (rahim) into two categories: kinship with whom maintaining ties is obligatory and severing ties is forbidden (such as ascendants, descendants, and those connected to them like siblings, paternal uncles, and maternal uncles), and kinship with whom maintaining ties is recommended and severing ties is disliked (such as the children of paternal and maternal uncles and aunts).
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/150900
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 150900
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy