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Smile Though Your Heart is Aching
7-29-2015
A smile really can go a mile. If only you knew….; and I’m pretty sure you do.
Greeting a brother/sister with a warm smile and a heartfelt ‘Salam’ is a quality that every believer should possess. It is an act of kindness; a charity and a Sunnah.
Ask the individual at the receiving end of that smile and that greeting of peace, the impact it has on their mood. The stress on their face melting into happiness as their day becomes that much more bearable and worthwhile merely from seeing a loving expression from a loved one.
It is among life’s simplest pleasures; the giving and the receiving of a deed in a moment without being overshadowed by the complications of life’s obstacles.
Think of a scenario you’ve been in: had a tough day of lectures; didn’t do the reading and so have no idea what was going on; no time for lunch; worn the wrong shoes so are soaked to the mid-calf, jeans muddy from the bottom; unable to express your frustration, dragging your feet on the way to the prayer hut for a minute of peace to get yourself together, when you hear a high pitched ‘Salaaaaaam!’ from opposite you as you approach the door of hut, a sister with a huge smile on her face.
You un-scrunch your face and feel your frustration fizzle away as you smile back and walk in together to greet another group of sisters with the same radiant smile. And that is the greatest and most beautiful quality of this act – it’s contagious! A chain reaction set off from a single act of kindness which reaches into the hearts of an unknown number of people armed with the ability to transform their day, something referred to as the butterfly effect.
There are a million and one reasons to smile; the first and most inspiring being that it was one of the many beautiful qualities of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who was always seen with a smile on his face, despite the mountain of trials and challenges that he faced.
To say that life is difficult is an understatement; the battles of life are often troubling and heartbreaking. But the underlying principle to every misfortune in life is that God is testing your faith and giving you an opportunity to raise your status to be amongst the noble believers.
If your faith is strong, you will remain loyal to your Creator despite any and every calamity that befalls you (easier said than done, granted). It is often said that ‘the greater the status, the greater the test’ and this is exemplified by Prophet Muhammad. His noble companions and people of the time were drawn to his sweet mannerism and conduct; his smile being the most radiant feature of his face, even more so than a full moon. SubhanAllah.
So this really does leave us with little excuse. There are truly a million and one reasons to smile and really only one. It is not even the reasons behind the smile that matter as mine are different to yours, rather it is the emotion locked within this righteous deed, a short-lived moment of tranquility and happiness, a glimpse of light. It is an action demanding the right to be shared and spread, an action that exerts a magnetic bond between individuals, drawing them closer as brothers/sisters. After all, everyone smiles in the same language. So next time you’re having a hard day and life seems to have it in for you – Smile: it’s a Sunnah!
‘Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.’
No matter how tough life becomes, always smile because this life has a strange way of bringing happiness to your doorstep when you least expect it. Nay, this is the ungrateful way of thinking and gratitude should be shown to the Provider. It is God who showers you with His infinite number of blessings again and again.
So to do one act for God, and entirely for Him, smile and within the blink of an eye or rather it should be, with one curve pointing in the direction of Heaven, the world seems to be that bit better.
Make a small but a world’s difference to somebody. Smile.
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