Smile and be Encouraging
Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Make things easy! And do not make them complicated! Be cheerful! And do not be repulsive.” [Sahih Bukhari]
Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Teach and give good tidings! Make things easy, and do not make them hard!” [Ahmad ibn Hanbal]
These ahadith highlight the importance of being cheerful ourselves, encouraging others and making them optimistic. Imam Ibn al-Qayyim said that a believer should have two wings; one of fear and one of good hope in Allah. If a person were unrealistically optimistic, they would stop working to achieve their goals, thinking that things will come to them anyway. On the other hand, pessimism also prevents a person from acting, since they have no hope and see no good in doing anything. Therefore, as teachers we should encourage optimism at the same time that we discourage overconfidence.
The first hadith also points out that when a person is not cheerful, they do not possess the ability to draw other people to them, instead, they repel them. One of the ways to be cheerful is to smile. The Sahabah told us that nobody smiled more than the Prophet of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam). This is proof enough for us to smile.
Current research tells us that the physical act of smiling releases certain chemicals in our bodies that help us fight disease, produce happiness, and properly modulate sleep and appetite. In addition, when the brain and heart activity of volunteers was measured, it was seen that a smile gave the same level of stimulation that 2000 bars of chocolate would. Smiling encourages others to remember happy events, feel optimistic and be motivated. So, smile to make others more receptive to your message.