Who actually counts as maintaining ties
It rules out the obvious case.
لَيْسَ الْوَاصِلُ بِالْمُكَافِئِ، وَلَكِنِ الْوَاصِلُ الَّذِي إِذَا قَطَعَتْ رَحِمُهُ وَصَلَهَا
Laysa-l-wāṣilu bi-l-mukāfiʾ, wa lākini-l-wāṣilu-lladhī idhā qaṭaʿat raḥimuhu waṣalahā
The one who maintains ties is not the one who repays in kind. The one who maintains ties is the one who, when his relatives cut him off, keeps connecting.
Where this comes from
Repaying is called something else here. The word is reserved for the case where nothing is coming back.
The full narration
Narrated `Abdullah bin `Amr:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Al-Wasil is not the one who recompenses the good done to him by his relatives, but Al-Wasil is the one who keeps good relations with those relatives who had severed the bond of kinship with him
Source
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī · 5991
Ṣaḥīḥ
- Agreed upon as authentic (al-Bukhārī / Muslim)