Maintaining kinship can involve greeting relatives, appropriate contact, checking on the sick, helping when needed, and honoring their rights. Family circumstances differ, but the core is sustained goodwill, dignity, and responsibility.
Example 1: After a dispute about money, two relatives stop speaking. One attempts to resume respectful contact while dealing fairly with the underlying issue.
Example 2: Someone lives far away yet keeps in touch and offers help when able. Physical distance does not necessarily mean severed ties.
A helpful contrasting word is وَاصِلٌ (“one who joins or maintains”), opposite in sense to قَاطِعٌ.