Family ties

Q: Under what circumstances can a person break family ties with his/her own siblings?

Q: Is it a must/obligatory to keep contact with distant relatives (parents cousins)? If a person does not wish to keep contact with distant relatives but the parents force him to do so, then what should he do? If a person doesn’t wish to keep any contact, will he be sinful? 

Q: In Islam, is it necessary to meet relatives who do not come to meet you or keep contact with you, even though you visited them many times?

Q: I love all my family members, both maternal and paternal. But I am too lazy to phone them and sometimes extremely shy for other members of my family. Therefore I do not keep contact. Will I be regarded as one of those who break family ties?

Q: Our relatives sometimes hurt us, like some of our cousins are jealous of us and do things that actually hurts us and try to degrade us. At first, all our relatives would dine with us but when they started being jealous of us, all our relatives were far away from us, especially from our family and because of that I am in very bad condition.

I am mentally disturbed... and I actually don't know what to do. I am just making sabr, because at this point I can't do anything and this thing is actually happening for 3 to 4 years already. What does Islam teach us to do at this point?

Q: I have two questions: 

1. How to deal with people called Ahmadiyah? A girl was apparently wearing a hijab like Muslim women do and I grew friendly with her but now I came to know she is Ahmadiyah and not Muslim. What should I do?

2. How to deal with relatives who are involved in *gunnah e kabeera* or greatest sins. They also perform black magic and admit it. Is the prohibition of not cutting off with relatives still there for us? When these people also harm my family and try to create obstacles for every important thing.

Q: What is more important: segregation between men and women or keeping family ties?

I am asking because in my native place and family, people have almost completely left the rules of segregation between men and women. So, I'm afraid to visit my family members. I have been concerned about the rules of segregation that I stopped visiting my relatives for a long time. But because of this my relations with family members became really bad, which is another bad thing in Deen.

Also, in my current situation I can't survive alone. I need help from my family to survive. I cannot stop visiting them.

Also, many of them are not able to understand my stance on this issue. Many of them are getting a bad image of Islam when I give less importance to family relations. They seem to be going further away from Deen and Imaan because of me.

So, how should I balance?

I am a weak hearted person. I may not be able to boldly oppose the malpractices when I visit my family. Also, I can't bear to see their hearts broken because of me. I am also not able to convince them of our rules.

Now, I am feeling that I should give more importance to maintaing family ties. I am feeling that I should visit them even if I may unintentionally do some sin in the process. Is this the right way to proceed?

Q: I have some issues with my brother. He is very jealous of me and day by day it is becoming very hard for me to communicate with him. If I stop talking to him, will I be a sinner? Kindly help me out.​

Q: I would like to know what does it mean to maintain and break family ties. Does it mean visiting the person? I don't visit them and we don't speak very often but when we do we greet and speak. They have hurt my feelings many times, I don't hold any grudge against them but I don't want to confide and spend too much time with them, does this mean I am breaking ties with them?

Q: There is a mother and father who have a gay son that is living with his gay lover and intends on getting married to him. The son is not in the parents care, is financially independent and lives in another city. The parents, brother and sister have spoken to him regarding his actions on countless occasions not to do the sin but he never listens. He intends to continue his relationship and lifestyle.

1 What do the family members do since he is being obstinate?

2 Do the family members have to cut ties with him?

3 Can any cordial relationship occur between the parties?

4 Can the mother conceal the sons true actions from the father?