Various Schools of Thought on Smiling

Dear Editor,

This letter addresses various schools of thought about the impact of smiling in the health care setup from ancient literature to the present in a nutshell. Smile is God’s gift and the external reflection of a good heart. The Hadith of Islam narrated by Ibn Jaz “I have not seen anyone who smiled more than the Messenger of Allah (SWT)” exemplifies that The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was known for his joyful and pleasant demeanour (Jami at-Tirmidhi 3641). Abu Dharr narrated another Hadith of Islam: "Your smiling in the face of your brother is charity, commanding good and forbidding evil is charity, your giving directions to a man lost in the land is charity for you. Your seeing for a man with bad sight is a charity for you, your removal of a rock, a thorn or a bone from the road is charity for you. Your pouring what remains from your bucket into the bucket of your brother is charity for you," elucidates smiling to the face of a brother is a charity (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1956). From the perspective of Christianity, Holy Bible says “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy” illustrating inner joy and peace leading to outer expressions of gladness (Holy Bible new international version, 2025). The renowned naturalist and geologist, Charles Darwin narrated that emotional expression is determined by evolution and is universal with recent research on facial expressions where happiness is expressed by smiling (Ekman, 1973, p. 1). The genuine smile narrated by the renowned French Neurologist, Guillaume Duchenne, as generated by the contraction of both zygomaticus major and orbicularis oculi muscles, whereas a fake or deliberate smile is generated without the involvement of the orbicularis oculi muscle (Etcoff, et al., 2020, p. 612654). Smiling has an impact on the nervous system (release of dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin, which calms the nervous system and decreases pain threshold) and on body physiology (control blood sugar, blood pressure, and regulate metabolism)

(Thakur, and Sharma, 2021, pp. 6-10). When working as a team leader, smiling may promote improved mood, trust and memory in health care settings (Beamish, et al., 2019, pp. 91-95).

Funding

None.

onflict of Interest

None.

References

1. Beamish, A.J., Foster, J.J., Edwards, H., and Olbers, T., 2019. What’s in a smile? A review of the benefits of the clinician’s smile. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 95(1120), pp. 91-95.
2. Ekman, P., 1973. Darwin and facial expression: A century of research in review. New York: Academic Press.
3. Etcoff, N., Stock, S., Krumhuber, E.G., and Reed, L.L., 2020. A novel test of the Duchenne marker: smiles after Botulinum toxin treatment for crow’s feet wrinkles. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, p. 612654.
4. Holy Bible new international version, 2025. Psalms, 30, p. 11. Available at: https://www.bible.com/search/bible?query=Psalm%2030%3A11 [Accessed 13 July 2024]
5. Jami at-Tirmidhi 3641. Book 49, Hadith 37. Available at: https://www.islamicity.org/hadith/search/index.php?q=29299&sss=1 [Accessed 13 July 2024]
6. Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1956. Book 27, Hadith 62. Available at: https://sunnah.com/search?q=+Jami%60+at-Tirmidhi+1956 [Accessed 13 July 2024]
7. Thakur, K., and Sharma, S.K., 2021. Nurse with smile: Does it make difference in patients' healing? Industrial Psychiatry Journal, 30(1), pp. 6-10.