Smile !

By Roudha Bin Desmal

Islam is more than just a religion of worship; Islam is a way of life. Islam teaches Muslims how to behave in their daily lives, and those rules are basic and easy that they become part of the Muslim’s life naturally. Islam focuses on the tiny details that make a drastic difference, for example smiling. A smile has the capability to free the load a person has, and make him or feel actually feel better and brighter. The prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him advised Muslims to smile at each other, and he said that a smile in the face of your brother is considered charity. The theme of the art project is the relation between Islam and peace, and since smiles bring happiness to people, it also brings peace. Through smiling inner peace can be achieved, it is a silent dialogue between people that brings them to a state of happiness and peace.

            My art project was inspired by positivity, and hence the smile. I believe that in today’s world, there are so many wars and so many depressing events that are going on. We are showered with news of bombings, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and many more. People are exposed to such negativity, and this is disregarding what each individual is facing in his or her own life. The accumulation of negativity on a person or in a society can be dangerous or damaging, so we need to find a way to make ourselves and each other feel better. I believe that smiling is the simplest thing a person can so to spread positive vibes to the person who himself or herself who is smiling, because he or she will feel the negativity leaving his or her body, and the person that is receiving that smile, is not only receiving positive energy, but also he or she will be receiving happy vibes. It is like the positivity is being transferred from one person to the other. To demonstrate, my painting involved the word “smile” in Arabic Kufic font. I used three colors to paint the word smile, and they are a mixture of orange, yellow, and white. When a person sees the painting her or she will feel confused if the color is yellow or orange, and that is my aim because I want to say that positivity is a result of different emotions and thoughts that sometimes cannot be differentiated or separated, or even understood. The color black to represent negativity or the negative vibes dominates the background color. The background also includes dark shades brown, green, and blue again to symbolize that darkness or negativity is not uniform. From the word “smile” that I wrote in the Kufic script, it seems that there is an explosion of yellow radiance coming out of the word, I also used gold paint at the very inner part. Some of the implications of the gold color are success, achievement, and triumph; these are things that cannot be accomplished without having a positive view on things. I personally do not believe that prosperity and success can be attained in the darkness, because we cannot see well in the dark; therefore, we will not be able to function properly. Lastly, the explosion of positivity that is being emitted from the letters into the darkness is actually a struggle between positivity and negativity. It looks like the blackness and they yellow are fighting each other to gain dominance. The majority of the painting is black, because I want to say that it is easy to let darkness and negativity consume a person, and it is challenging to overcome the darkness, but it is worth it because your life will be filed with light and positivity.

            There has been scientific research that proves that smiling is actually good for the person smiling and the people around him or her. According to the British Dental Health Foundation, “A smile really can make you feel better, and make others respond more positively to you. With a smile you are more likely to succeed in what we do, from relationships to careers.  We can use a smile to show our positive feelings or mask our more negative ones. A smile really is one of man’s greatest gifts!” Islam is all about peace, and this is why it told Muslims to smile, because it helps to transport harmony between people, and bring internal peace to the people.