ضابط الرحم التي يجب صلتهاGuidelines on the relatives with whom ties of kinship must be upheld

[أم أبي التراب]

ضابط الرحم التي يجب صلتها

Guidelines on the relatives with whom ties of kinship must be upheld

السؤال:هل ابن عمتي يعتبر من رحمي الذي يجب علي صلته؟

الجواب :الحمد لله
لاشك أن ابن عمتك من جملة الأرحام الذين ينبغي صلتهم والإحسان إليهم ، وبذل المودة لهم ، لكن هل هو من الرحم التي يجب صلتها ؟ فيه خلاف بين الفقهاء ، وبيان ذلك أن الرحم نوعان : رحم مَحْرَم ، ورحم غير مَحْرَم . وضابط الرحم المَحرَم : كل شخصين لو كان أحدهما ذكرا والآخر أنثى لم يجز لهما أن يتناكحا ، كالآباء والأمهات والإخوة والأخوات والأجداد والجدات وإن علوا ، والأولاد وأولادهم وإن سفلوا ، والأعمام والعمات ، والأخوال والخالات.
وأما أبناء الأعمام والعمات والأخوال والخالات ، فليسوا من الرحم المَحرَم ، لجواز التناكح بينهم .
والرحم غير المَحرَم : ما عدا ذلك من الأقارب ، كابن عمتك ، وبنت عمتك ، وابن خالك ، وبنت خالك ، وهكذا .
وقد ذهب بعض الفقهاء إلى أن الرحم التي يجب صلتها : هي الرحم المحرم فقط ، وأما غير المَحْرَم ، فتستحب صلتها ولا تجب ، وهذا قول للحنفية ، وغير المشهور عند المالكية ، وقول أبي الخطاب من الحنابلة ، وحجتهم أنها لو وجبت لجميع الأقارب لوجب صلة جميع بني آدم ، وذلك متعذر ، فلم يكن بد من ضبط ذلك بقرابة تجب صلتها وإكرامها ويحرم قطعها , وتلك قرابة الرحم المحرم .
واستدلوا كذلك بقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم "لَا تُنْكَحُ الْمَرْأَةُ عَلَى عَمَّتِهَا وَلَا عَلَى خَالَتِهَا" رواه البخاري ومسلم 1408واللفظ له . قال الحافظ ابن حجر : "وزاد الطبراني من حديث ابن عباس "فإنكم إذا فعلتم ذلك فقد قطعتم أرحامكم وصححه ابن حبان ، ولأبي داود في المراسيل عن عيسى بن طلحة نهي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أن تنكح المرأة على قرابتها مخافة القطيعة" انتهى من "الدراية في تخريج أحاديث الهداية" 2/56 .
ووجه الاستدلال بهذا الحديث ، ما بينه بعض المالكية رحمهم الله ، قال القرافي : "المسألة الثامنة في بيان الواجب من صلة الرحم : قال الشيخ الطرطوشي : قال بعض العلماء : إنما تجب صلة الرحم إذا كان هناك محرمية ، وهما كل شخصين لو كان أحدهما ذكرا والآخر أنثى لم يتناكحا كالآباء والأمهات والإخوة والأخوات والأجداد والجدات وإن علوا ، والأولاد وأولادهم وإن سفلوا ، والأعمام والعمات والأخوال والخالات ، فأما أولاد هؤلاء فليست الصلة بينهم واجبة لجواز المناكحة بينهم ، ويدل على صحة هذا القول تحريم الجمع بين الأختين والمرأة وعمتها وخالتها لما فيه من قطيعة الرحم ، وترك الحرام واجب ، وبرهما وترك إذايتهما واجبة ، ويجوز الجمع بين بنتي العم وبنتي الخال وإن كن يتغايرن ويتقاطعن ، وما ذاك إلا أن صلة الرحم بينهما ليست واجبة " انتهى من "الفروق" 1/147 .
والقول الثاني في المسألة : أنه يجب صلة الرحم كلها ، لا فرق بين المحرَم وغيره ، "وهو قول للحنفية , والمشهور عند المالكية , وهو نص أحمد , وهو ما يفهم من إطلاق الشافعية , فلم يخصصها أحد منهم بالرحم المحرم" . "الموسوعة الفقهية الكويتية" 3/83 .
وينظر : "غذاء الألباب" للسفاريني 1/354 ، "بريقة محمودية" 4/153 .
وفي المسألة أقوال أخرى ، قال في "سبل السلام" 2/628 "واعلم أنه اختلف العلماء في حد الرحم التي تجب صلتها فقيل : هي الرحم التي يحرم النكاح بينهما بحيث لو كان أحدهما ذكرا حرم على الآخر . فعلى هذا لا يدخل أولاد الأعمام ولا أولاد الأخوال . واحتج هذا القائل بتحريم الجمع بين المرأة وعمتها وخالتها في النكاح لما يؤدي إليه من التقاطع .
وقيل : هو من كان متصلا بميراث ، ويدل عليه قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم "ثم أدناك أدناك" .
وقيل : من كان بينه وبين الآخر قرابة سواء كان يرثه أو لا
ثم صلة الرحم كما قال القاضي عياض : درجات بعضها أرفع من بعض ، وأدناها ترك المهاجرة وصلتها بالكلام ولو بالسلام , ويختلف ذلك باختلاف القدرة والحاجة ، فمنها واجب ، ومنها مستحب ، فلو وصل بعض الصلة ولم يصل غايتها لم يسم قاطعا ، ولو قصر عما يقدر عليه وينبغي له ، لم يسم واصلا .
وقال القرطبي : الرحم التي توصل الرحم عامة وخاصة ، فالعامة رحم الدِّين , وتجب صلتها بالتوادد والتناصح والعدل والإنصاف والقيام بالحقوق الواجبة والمستحبة .
والرحم الخاصة تزيد بالنفقة على القريب وتفقِّد حاله والتغافلِ عن زلته " انتهى .
هذا حاصل كلام أهل العلم في هذه المسألة ، لكن لا يخفى عليك أيها الأخ الكريم ما جاء في صلة الرحم من عظيم الثواب ، وما جاء في قطيعتها من أليم العقاب ، وهذا يدعو إلى تحري صلة الرحم ، والحذر من قطيعتها ، والاحتياطِ للدين ، والخروجِ من الخلاف ، فبادر بصلة ابن عمتك ، وأحسن إليه قدر استطاعتك ، فإن أجر ذلك لا يضيع عند الله.
وانظر جواب السؤال رقم 12292 ، 22706 ، 4631
وفقنا الله وإياك لما يحب ويرضى .

والله أعلم .

الإسلام سؤال وجواب*

[أم أبي التراب]

Guidelines on the relatives with whom ties of kinship must be upheld

Is the son of my paternal aunt one of the relatives with whom I must uphold ties of kinship?.

Praise be to Allaah. Undoubtedly the son of your paternal aunt is one of the relatives with whom ties of kinship should be upheld and whom you should treat kindly and to whom you should be friendly. But is he one of the “rahm” relatives with whom ties of kinship must be upheld? There is a difference of opinion among the fuqaha’ concerning that. The reason for that is that relatives are of two types: mahrams and non-mahrams. The guideline on mahram relatives is: each two persons who, if one were male and the other female, it would not be permissible for them to get married, such as fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, grandfathers and grandmothers no matter how far the line of ascent reaches, children and grandchildren no matter how far the line of descent reaches, paternal uncles and aunts, and maternal uncles and aunts.
With regard to the children of paternal uncles and aunts and maternal uncles and aunts, they are not mahram relatives, because it is permissible to marry them.
Non-mahram relatives are all other relatives, such as the son of your paternal aunt, the daughter of your paternal aunt, the son of your maternal aunt, the daughter of your maternal aunt, and so on.
Some fuqaha’ are of the view that the relatives with whom ties of kinship must be upheld are the mahram relatives only. As for non-mahram relatives, it is mustahabb to uphold ties with them but it is not obligatory. This is the view of the Hanafis and is the lesser-known view of the Maalikis; it is also the view of Abu’l-Khattaab among the Hanbalis. Their evidence is that if it is obligatory to uphold ties of kinship with all relatives, it would be obligatory to uphold ties of kinship with all of the children of Adam, and that is impossible, so it is essential to set guidelines on the relationship which makes it obligatory to uphold and honour ties of kinship and makes it forbidden to cut those ties, and that is the mahram relatives.
They also quoted as evidence the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “One should not be married to a woman and her paternal aunt, or a woman and her maternal aunt, at the same time.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim (1408). Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said: al-Tabaraani added to the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas: “If you do that, you have severed your ties of kinship.” This was classed as saheeh by Ibn Hibbaan. And Abu Dawood narrated in al-Maraaseel a report from ‘Eesa ibn Talhah that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade being married to a woman and any of her relatives at the same time, for fear of severing ties of kinship. End quote from al-Diraayah fi Takhreej Ahaadeeth al-Hidaayah (2/56).
The way in which they understood this hadeeth to prove their point was explained by some of the Maaliki scholars (may Allaah have mercy on him). Al-Quraafi said: The eighth issue regarding the obligation of upholding ties of kinship: Shaykh al-Tartooshi said: one of the scholars said: rather upholding ties of kinship is obligatory if the relatives are mahrams, which refers to each two persons who, if one were male and the other female, it would not be permissible for them to get married, such as fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, grandfathers and grandmothers no matter how far the line of ascent reaches, children and grandchildren no matter how far the line of descent reaches, paternal uncles and aunts, and maternal uncles and aunts. As for the children of these, upholding ties of kinship between them is not obligatory, because it is permissible for them to get married. The soundness of this view is indicated by the fact that it is haraam to be married to two sisters, or to a woman and her paternal aunt or to a woman and her maternal aunt at the same time, because that leads to severing the ties of kinship, and avoiding something haraam is obligatory, and honouring them and not harming them is obligatory. But is it permissible to be married to two female paternal cousins or two female maternal cousins at the same time, even if they are jealous of one another and sever ties with one another, and that is because upholding ties of kinship between them is not obligatory. End quote from al-Farooq (1/147).
The second opinion concerning this issue is that it is obligatory to uphold ties of kinship with all of them, with no distinction between mahrams and non-mahrams. This is one view of the Hanafis and is the well known view of the Maalikis. It was also stated by Ahmad, and it is what may be understood from the general terms in which the Shaafa’is discussed this issue, because none of them singled out the mahram relatives in this regard. Al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaitiyyah (3/83).
See also: Ghadha’ al-Albaab by al-Safaareeni (1/354) and Bareeqah Mahmoudiyyah (4/153).
There are other opinions concerning this matter. It says in Subul al-Salaam (2/628): It should be noted that the scholars differed concerning the definition of the relatives with whom it is obligatory to uphold ties of kinship. It was said that it is relatives with whom marriage is haraam, such that if one of them were male marriage to the other would be forbidden. Based on that, it does not include the children of paternal or maternal uncles and aunts. Those who hold this view quote as evidence the fact that it is haraam to be married to a woman and her paternal aunt or maternal aunt at the same time, because that leads to severing of ties of kinship.
And it was said that it is those who are connected by inheritance which is indicated by the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “then the next closest and the next closest.”
And it was said that it refers to those who are related to one another regardless of whether they are connected by inheritance or not.
Moreover, upholding of ties of kinship, as al-Qaadi ‘Iyaad said, is of varying degrees, some of which are higher than others. At the very least, it is not forsaking one another, and upholding ties by speaking, even if it only saying salaam. That varies according to possibility and need. It may be obligatory or mustahabb. If a person upholds ties to some extent, even if it is not to the fullest extent, he cannot be called a breaker of ties of kinship, and if he fails to do what he is able to do and should do, then he cannot be called an upholder of ties of kinship.
Al-Qurtubi said: The degrees of relationship which must be upheld are general and specific. The general relationship is that which is based on religion, which must be upheld by means of mutual love, sincerity, fairness and fulfilment of rights both obligatory and mustahabb.
In addition to that, the specific relationship also involves spending on relatives, checking on them and overlooking their mistakes. End quote.
This is a summary of what the scholars have said about this issue, but what has been narrated about the great reward for upholding ties of kinship and the severe punishment for severing them will be no secret to you. This means that you should be keen to uphold ties of kinship and beware of severing them, and be on the safe side with regard to your religious commitment, and avoid an area concerning which the scholars differed. So hasten to uphold ties of kinship with the son of your paternal aunt, and treat him kindly as much as you can, for the reward of that will not be lost with Allaah.
See also the answers to questions no. 12292, 22706 and 4631.
May Allaah help us and you to do that which He loves and which pleases us.
And Allaah knows best.

Islam Q&A*