Question :

I have been married for three years. My husband`s parents don`t keep good relations with us. However, I keep encouraging him not to sever good ties with them. What do you advise me to do in light of the Hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "The bond of relationship is suspending from the Throne….."?

The Answer :

Praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.

Dear sister, thank you for your keenness on keeping good ties with kinship and mending discord and we would like to remind you that Allah the Almighty will reward you for that. In return for your sincere efforts, He the Exalted will shower you and your husband with His grace and blessings and will elevate your status in this world and in the Hereafter.

We advise you to keep reaching to them and try to win their hearts as much as you can. However, if that was impossible, then there is no blame on you for refraining from visiting them. As for your husband, he is required to keep the ties of kinship to the extent that he sees fit and you don`t have to go with him if that would agitate the discord. We also remind you that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "The person who perfectly maintains the ties of kinship is not the one who does it because he gets recompensed by his relatives (for being kind and good to them), but the one who truly maintains the bonds of kinship is the one who persists in doing so even though the latter has severed the ties of kinship with him." {Bukhari}. Moreover, Allah the Almighty Says (What means): "The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo! he, between whom and thee there was enmity (will become) as though he was a bosom friend. But none is granted it save those who are steadfast, and none is granted it save the owner of great happiness." {Fussilat,34-35}. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.