Ramadan Reflections: Day 11 Nafs Hack with Waleed Gabr

• 

Nafs Hack: Smiling

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu. Ramadan Mubarak to you and your family. My name is Waleed Gabr. I work with Islamic Relief, and my Nafs Hack is smiling.

A lot of times, we interact with people and don’t realize the power of a smile. Many times, I come across a lot of people in the work that we do, which is such a blessing and so uplifting, and we actually don’t realize how powerful a smile is.

Some people always ask me, ‘Why are you smiling?’ And I just reply back to them and say, ‘What is there to worry about?’ Alhamdullilah, Allah (SWT) has blessed us with so much.

Smiling costs nothing, but it means a lot. It has so much value.

It may take a very small time to invest, but it might have a long-lasting impression.

Smiling can be contagious. Smiling could be powerful. And the most beautiful thing about smiling is it’s rewarding. It’s an act of charity itself.

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) told us in Hadith Sahih, ‘Your smile for others is charity.’ Imagine that when you’re smiling in the face of your brother, your sister, your friend, your wife, your husband, your child, your neighbor, your own community members.

When you’re not smiling with them, you feel like something’s wrong and you’re maybe doing something wrong. I’m encouraging all of us this Ramadan to just smile—that can just give off enough charity.

And then that will be contagious. And then you’re going to help the next person and make the next person smile.

So take the challenge this month of Ramadan and smile and leave off a lasting impression. May Allah (SWT) bless you and reward you and grant us all the opportunity to smile together. Because when we face him and see him, we’re hoping to only smile insha’Allah ta’ala.

Have a great day. Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu.