Cheerfulness is having a bright face upon meeting, which manifests itself in the features of the face and the smiling lips. It also appears in plainness and endearment, in mutual approach and splendor of introduction.
Anyone losing cheerfulness, loses a good point at first meeting, and the opposite is right; frowning causes depression and makes the other feel that you are unwilling to meet him. A smile is just a gift that indicates a generous soul caring for others and ready for sharing all their conditions. It is the beginning of the gift that determines what follows.
Muhammad (peace be upon him) showed this meaning as He said defining the relationship between gift and smile, “Your smiling in the face of your bother is a charity.”
A smile is charity, a message of love and sincerity given freely through which one reaps a lot of good. It also puts an end to problems, solves or helps in solving them. It also changes a foe into a friend, draws one closer to when one loves and makes one intimate.
A smile overcomes sorrow and despair, unites hearts and facilitates tasks. If you face problems with a smile, you do a great deal towards solving them as you prepare yourself from within to face them. A smile unto a blessing is thankfulness, and unto distress is content with fate.
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was not content with mere ordering His companions to smile, but it was a distinguished feature of Him. Jarir bin Abdullah Al-Bayali – one of His (peace be upon him) companions, says, “The Messenger or Allah (peace be upon him) never saw me except that he smiled at me.”
One of His companions describes Him as the most smiling; Abdullah bin Al-Harith Azzubuiri says, “I have never seen anyone who smiled continuously than the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).”
Those companions were not of the brilliant ones who accompanied the Prophet for a long time, and were not entrusted with great tasks at the time of prophet hood. They were not either among the former ones so that we might say, He welcomes and honors them for their tasks, what about those who sacrificed, fought, were wounded, tortured and suffered then?
Muhammad (peace be upon him) smiled to everyone indiscriminately and was known to be always smiling so much so that Amr bin Al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) thought himself to be the dearest to the Prophet because of the latter’s warm welcome; therefore the former asked Him about the dearest one wishing to be that one. Narrated by Amr bin Al-As (may Allah be pleased with him), “That the Prophet (peace be upon him) delegated him with the Army of That Assalasil; Amr asked him, “0 Messenger of Allah, who is the most beloved to you of all people?”
He replied, “Aisha.”
I asked, “And from all men?”
He replied, “Her father (Abu Bakr).”
I asked, “Then whom?”
He answered, “Umar bin Al-Khatab.”
Muhammad (peace be upon him) carried out the teachings of Allah who ordered Him to be decent, tactful and good-mannered with all as described in the Qur’an, “And if you had been rude (in speech) and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you…” (Ali Imran 3:159)
That is, Muhammad is plain, cheerful, nice and simple. Were you the opposite, you would not have united all these hearts around you.
Thus, Muhammad (peace be upon him) called for cheerfulness and friendly encounters among His companions as He said,” Do not belittle any good deed, even meeting your brother (Muslim) with a cheerful face.”
One of His closest companions Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), described His smile by saying, “And his teeth were the most charming (among the teeth) of all people.”
Moreover, Somrah bin Jundab described Muhammad (peace be upon him) by saying, “He did not stand up (and go) from the place where He offered the dawn prayer until the sun rose, and after the rising of the sun he stood up, and they (his companions) entered into conversation with one another and they talked of the things (that they did during the Days of Ignorance), and they laughed (on their unreasonable and ridiculous acts). Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) smiled only.
Muhammad (peace be upon him), therefore was not gloomy or sullen by the way of showing His prophet hood and seriousness but rather cheerful and friendly.
We see men ever smiling as long as they are after some personal interest; however, upon turning to their families they change faces and become gloomy. Muhammad (peace be upon him) was to the contrary, as His wife, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says,” He (the Prophet) was the most kind and the most generous of all people. And He was a man of your men but He Was more smiling.
His smile was not limited to mirth and satisfaction, but He perhaps used to smile to alleviate anger and succeeded in doing so. It happened that Ka’bi failed to attend the Battle of Tabuk, and upon the Prophet’s (peace be upon you) return Ka’b, came to Him apologizing (the tale is long) saying in his narration, “I greeted Him and He smiled and there was a tinge of anger in that. He (the Prophet) then said to me, “What kept you back?”
That is, He smiled in anger, showing nothing but smile. Ka’b added at the end of his tale that when he was told of the acceptance of his repentance, “When I greeted Allah’s Apostle, whose face was glittering with happiness, for whenever Allah’s Apostle was happy, His face used to glitter, as if it were a piece of the moon, and we used to recognize it (His happiness) from His face.”
Muhammad was not ever smiling with just His companions of believers, but rather with all, even with those He hated. It happened that an ill-mannered man came to the Prophet seeking entrance. The Prophet said, “Let him in.”
When the man entered, the Prophet smiled to him and spoke gently. So, His wife Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) asked Him about the reason for that and He said, “O Aisha! The worst people are those whom the people desert or leave in order to save themselves from their dirty language or from their transgression.”
Then He added, “Allah does not like the one who is unseemly and lewd in his language.”
Even an ill-mannered person received smiling and warm welcome from the Prophet in His house.
