the Messenger ﷺ likened the nurturing of kinship bonds to the water by which a thing is moistened.

Among the other reports cited by the author—may Allah have mercy on him—is the Prophet’s ﷺ saying: “The household of such-and-such are not my allies,” because they were unbelievers.

A believer is obliged to renounce allegiance (walāʾ) to the disbelievers, as Allah the Exalted says: “You have had an excellent example in Abraham and those with him when they said to their people, ‘We disown you and all that you worship apart from Allah; we reject you, and between us and you enmity and hatred have appeared forever—until you believe in Allah alone’” (al-Mumtaḥanah 60:4). Thus he disowned them even though they were his relatives.

He added, “Yet they possess a tie of kinship that I shall keep wet with its due water,” meaning that he would grant that bond its rightful share of kindness, even though they were unbelievers.

This shows that a relative has a right to be maintained even if he is an unbeliever, but he has no claim to allegiance: he is neither befriended nor supported in his falsehood.

The author then mentions the hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ informed his Companions that they would conquer Egypt, urged them to treat its people well, and said, “For they have a bond of kinship and marriage with us.” Hagar—the mother of Ishmael and the concubine of Abraham the Friend (upon him be peace)—was Egyptian, and for that reason he said, “They have marital and blood ties,” for they are the maternal uncles of Ishmael, and Ishmael is the ancestor of all the Arabized Arabs.

This indicates that kinship deserves to be honored even when the connection is remote; so long as you know that a person belongs to your clan, he is entitled to your kindness, no matter how distant the relationship.

It also proves that maintaining family ties through one’s mother is just as obligatory as maintaining them through one’s father.