Q: My older brother has broken ties with me for nine years without any reason, though he lives in the same neighborhood where I live. I used to pay him visits when he stopped visiting me and asked him if I did him any wrong that led him to do so. However, he did not answer me. I met him several times when I used to initiate talking to him but he would not answer me or even reciprocate my words. I even talked to our older brothers to ask him about the reason for his breaking ties with me while I am his only sister, but he did not answer them. (Part No. 25; Page No. 308) When our relatives ask him about me, he tells them that he has no sister. I now feel embarrassed and in an awkward situation because of this unjustified severing of kinship on the part of my brother. I fear the wrath and punishment of Allah against the severer of the ties of kinship, for the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, A person who severs ties of kinship will not enter Paradise. Now, does this Hadith apply to me or to my brother? What is the legal opinion concerning what my brother does?