Friday sermon: maintain good ties with your family Relatives should be treated them in kindness at all times Ruba Haza This Friday, worshippers will be told to maintain good ties with their relatives and to treat them with kindness. “Allah the Most Exalted has attributed a great status to doing good for one’s relatives,” the sermon will say. “The Almighty has illustrated this in many places in the holy Quran.” According to the Quran, among the greatest ways family members can keep their loved-ones close are to call them regularly and to visit them in person where possible. The Prophet Mohammed set the example to follow by honouring his ties of kinship and visiting his uncles. “The uncle of a man is the same as his father,” he said. The Prophet also used to visit his paternal aunt Safiya Bint Abdul Muttalib, as well as his two maternal aunts. He would say: “The aunt is of the same status as the mother.” In a further verse of the Quran, Allah says: “Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives.” It continues: “Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives.” Among the acts of goodness Allah urges Muslims to do is to provide for relatives less fortunate than themselves. The Quran states: “So give the relative his right, as well as the needy and the traveller. “That is best for those who desire the countenance of Allah, and it is they who will be the successful.” The sermon goes on to say that the reward for helping relatives will not only be witnessed in this world but will also be apparent in the next. It says relatives’ rights are not only due to them while they are alive, but after they die, too. Following the death of a relative, the Quran says it is the duty of a Muslim to take care of their interests and to look after their offspring.