بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Bismilla hir Rahma nir Rahim
16:97
(Y. Ali) Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a new Life,
a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions.
When growing up a non-Muslim asked me why did the Muslim men always have serious expressions? And asked me did they ever smile? I never even gave it a second thought because all the practicing male men I knew were always serious in demeanor.
I really attributed to the following hadith:
"O followers of Muhammad! By Allah, if you knew what I know, you would weep much and laugh little." [Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 8, #627]
The Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) smiled to show approval or a good mood but didn't cackle. Muslims are a community of the middle course. The two extremes of never showing any emotion or being uncontrollable in our demeanor should be abandoned.
2:143
(Y. Ali) Thus, have We made of you an
Ummat justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves; and We appointed the Qibla to which thou wast used, only to test those who followed the Messenger from those who would turn on their heels (From the Faith). Indeed it was (A change) momentous, except to those guided by Allah. And never would Allah Make your faith of no effect. For Allah is to all people Most surely full of kindness, Most Merciful.
I am a practicing Muslim (Insha Allah) and I am very happy. Yes I endure the ups and downs like anyone else with responsibilities. But I enjoy laughter, enjoy watching children grow, laugh at humorous occurrences.
I can laugh at innocent mistakes in life and realize that there are things far more complicated that Allah hasn't decreed to be my trial. Alhamdulillah
Are you able to smile at this joke?
One day some wise men, who were going about the country trying to find answers to some of the great questions of their time, came to Mulla Nasruddin's district and asked to see the wisest man in the place. Mulla Nasruddin was brought forward, and a big crowd gathered to listen.
The first wise man began by asking, "Where is the exact center of the world?"
"It is under my right heel," answered Mulla Nasruddin.
"How can you prove that?" asked the first wise man.
"If you don't believe me," answered Mulla Nasruddin, "measure and see."
The first wise man had nothing to answer to that, so the second wise man asked his question. "How many stars are there in the sky?" he said. "As many as there are hairs on my donkey," answered Mulla Nasruddin.
"What proof have you got of that?" asked the second wise man.
"If you don't believe me," answered Mulla Nasruddin, "count the hairs on my donkey and you will see."
"That's foolish talk," said the other. "How can one count the hairs on a donkey?"
"Well," answered Mulla Nasruddin, "How can one count the stars in the sky? If one is foolish talk, so is the other." The second wise man was silent.
The third wise man was becoming annoyed with Mulla Nasruddin and his answers, so he said, "You seem to know a lot about your donkey, so can you tell me how many hairs there are in its tail?"
"Yes," answered Mulla Nasruddin. "There are exactly as many hairs in its tail as there are in your beard."
"How can you prove that?" said the other.
"I can prove it very easily," answered Mulla Nasruddin. "You can pull one hair out of my donkey's tail for every one I pull out of your beard. If the hairs on my donkey's tail do not come to an end at exactly the same time as the hairs in your beard, I will admit that I was wrong."
Of course, the third wise man was not willing to do this, so the crowd declared Mulla Nasruddin the winner of the day's arguments.;D