A Simple Act of Kindness

In the name of Allah, the Best Planner.

For almost two days now, I have been listening to the new single by Sami Yusuf titled "Healing." It is a song full with moral and positive values. [click here to download the mp3 for free / click here to watch the video]

"A smile can change a life"

This is a line taken from the song. Have you ever thought that that is possible? Well, I do agree. I used to say, and is still saying this: A kind smile with sincerity is contagious. Don't you agree?

Doesn't matter. Anyway, I have a story to share here:

Last Wednesday, I was observed by my supervisor. Being unprepared and with only average performance, I was a bit disillusioned and was feeling down. Next when I was teaching my Form 2 class, a few Chinese boys were getting on my nerves. They were talking quite loud and disrupting my lesson - and I burst with anger. The girls right in front of me looked scared but the boys took no heed and they kept on talking. I stopped teaching and without saying anything, I went to sit at my desk and stared outside not saying anything. The class fell silent.

Suddenly Shen Wui (one of the "three stooges" known as "Sandwich" by his classmate) came to me and asked with his broken English and limited vocabulary which can be translated as, "Teacher, are you angry? The girls are scared." I told him to get back to his seat and I started to nag at the naughty boys (I always "make up" with the class after scolding them whenever they did something I do not like such as cursing) before I continued teaching. Then I noticed a Chinese girl near a window with sad face. She was upset about something. I asked Shen Wui what is wrong with the girl and he said, "She sad, teacher."

I took my "reward box" and went to girl. I told her to take one candy and smiled as I said this: "Don't be sad. I like to see everyone smiling in the class." She took a candy and ate it without saying anything until end of that lesson.

Today, I went to teach the class again. I was earlier than usual (5 minutes early) and a number of students who were lingering around the class (note: before my class was recess) swarmed around me and I noticed that one them was the sad girl whom I gave a candy. She looked very happy and was smiling very brightly. She even followed me as I entered the class and was very participative throughout the whole lesson. She was shy and her English was not that good but I could see her effort. That made my day today.

*****

Okay, that was all. So, what's with the story? Well, what happened reminds me the message Sami Yusuf tries to convey through his new song [check the lyric here]. That a simple act of kindness (with sincerity) from us can be meaningful to the person receiving it -- heal, and we will be healed.

A kind and sincere smile is contagious and perhaps, can change a life. :')

After all, the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself has taught us the same thing.

Narrated by 'Abdullah bin 'Amr, a man asked the Prophet (pbuh), "What Islamic trait is the best?" The Prophet (pbuh) said, "Feed the people, and greet those whom you know and those whom you do not know."

[Bukhari]

Charity may or may not begins at home. But I am pretty sure that charity begins with ourselves. So, my dear friends and honourable readers, what are we waiting for? Start to give people, whom you know or those whom you do not know, a kind and sincere smile when you greet them. You don't know how that simple act of kindness can be meaningful to them, can make their day, and might as well change their life.

Allah knows better. :')



"O Allah! I beseech Thee to keep me safe from sadness and despair and may I be able to continue doing good deeds in Thy course."

Senyum Seindah Suria

They say, a smile is a curve that set everything straight. Perhaps it's true, though there are situations when the curve made straight things twisted. Get what I meant? Ah, never mind that.

By the way, on the way back home from ALIN301 lecture today I came across a fair-looking, golden-haired Kiwi girl, shivering in her thick hooded windbreaker. I didn't know her nor did she know me, I believe. But from afar, I noticed she wanted to throw a smile to me but was rather hesitated. Seeing that, I smiled at her and when we were exactly shoulder to shoulder, she smiled back at me. Okay, I exaggerated a bit there. Not exactly when shoulder to shoulder did she smile back but when she were about half a metre from me. I exaggerated to create an elusive atmosphere. Sorry about that.

Okay, what I was trying to write here is about the power of a smile. In previous entry, I wrote about innocent and sincere smiles from children - about them smiles being contagious and all that. Sarah Shaina said it's not only smiles from children but smiles from anyone, threw at us with a sincere heart that made the smiles contagious. I can't argue on this one as it reminds me about something happened last year:

I was walking down Willis Street, ears stuffed with earphones. Despite the busy crowd, I made my way through with heavy thoughts in my head about recent things that troubled my mind. Too deep in thoughts thinking about my problems, I couldn't help but frowned (When I recall this now, I remember a young girl whispered to her mum that I looked scary but the lady hushed the girl silent). Suddenly I bumped into two shabbily dressed guys. They were laughing and laughing as if they had no cares about the world. They noticed me and smiled my way but I ignored them.

Suddenly one of them approached me, putting his right thumb and forefinger together and placed it near my face closest to my lips. He gestured a signal: He moved his thumb and forefinger apart then moved the two fingers back together. He repeated this a few times but I just ignored him. Then he said, "Hey mate! Smile a bit, won't ya?" Out of respect (and because I wanted to get rid of 'em), I smiled to them and they left. From that point, I kept thinking about what the heck those two men wanted - diverted away from thinking too much about my problems - and I smiled at myself.

See, smiles are contagious. One smile originated from a sincere, happy heart can make other pouting lips curve too. A sincere smile comes from a happy heart. And a sincere smile can reach out to another heart with problems and helped to clear the cloggy clouds away. Perhaps that is the reason why I love to see other people smile, because by seeing them smiles will make me smile and forget my problems. I don't need alcohol or drugs to make me forget my problems and be happy. All I need is a sincere smile from a happy heart, and that is enough for me.

This is why I want to see smiles on everyone!

~p/s: This reminds me of a Malay song heard on TV when I was a kid.

Senyum seindah suria
Yang membawa cahya,
Senyumlah dari hati
Duniamu berseri.

Translated as:
A smile as beautiful as the sun
That brings about light,
Smile thee from thy heart
Merry your world will be.

Where I Found Peace

I went to Metro New World this afternoon, walking slowly down Willis Street through a crowd of busy Kiwis and squint-eyed Asians hustling and bustling towards their destination. I was listening to my MP3 and had no care about the crowd. Suddenly a small girl (I think she's three) bumped into me. Her dad apologised and the little girl looked confused but she smiled. And I returned the smile to her and told her dad, "it's okay".

This reminds me about last Thursday when I was on my way to ALIN301 tutorial. I was climbing the staircase right opposite my house when I saw a big group of primary kids were going up the hill I was about to climb myself. Some were tirelessly running. Some were walking briskly. Some were huffing and puffing for oxygen. They all looked so cute. And there was this little golden-haired girl of five or six clad in a warm-red jacket, walking side by side with another black-haired girl of her age.

Suddenly the black-haired girl paced faster and dash forward. The golden-haired girl tried to catch up but she was tired and complained, "No, I can't." I was walking right next to her when I heard her complained. I bowed a little so that my head was close enough to hers and said, "Yes, you can!" She smiled back, shyly, before running with all her might to catch up to her friend. And she made it. And I continued walking to tutorial, with a wide smile etched on my lips for almost the whole day.

When I was doing my shopping, I was drowned deep in my own thought. Lately, I couldn't smile honestly. Many a smile had I faked, many a laugh had I made when I was around people. But I noticed one thing: Seeing children draws out a sense of inner peace that form an honest smile on my lips. A child's smile is contagious, at least to me. Perhaps those innocent and honest smiles from children can be a cure to this disease I have in my heart.