Courtesy. It is the act of respect and politeness.
I was inspired to write the blog for this week from an incident that I recently encountered. As I was running late to class (as usual), I ran to catch the elevators in Mundelein hoping that someone will hold the elevator for me. Unfortunately as I ran to the elevators, the doors slowly closed as no one held the door for me. This literally hit me and made me realize that even the smallest act can change a person’s mood. I was mad at first of how no one held the elevator for me, but this incident forced me to be more courteous towards people.
The Quran and the Hadith both state many times that one should be courteous to one another. For example in both the books of Bukhari and Muslim, ‘“On the authority of Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good things or keep silent. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be courteous and generous to his neighbour. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be courteous and generous to his [travelling] visitor.”’
Being courteous makes people feel good because it shows them that you care about them and respect them. It also makes the courteous one feel good about themselves because they feel like they are appreciated by others. If you are courteous with others, you might just encourage others around you to be courteous as well. So don’t forget to smile at someone, offer a seat to those who need it, or even just hold the elevator.
I was inspired to write the blog for this week from an incident that I recently encountered. As I was running late to class (as usual), I ran to catch the elevators in Mundelein hoping that someone will hold the elevator for me. Unfortunately as I ran to the elevators, the doors slowly closed as no one held the door for me. This literally hit me and made me realize that even the smallest act can change a person’s mood. I was mad at first of how no one held the elevator for me, but this incident forced me to be more courteous towards people.
The Quran and the Hadith both state many times that one should be courteous to one another. For example in both the books of Bukhari and Muslim, ‘“On the authority of Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good things or keep silent. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be courteous and generous to his neighbour. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be courteous and generous to his [travelling] visitor.”’
Being courteous makes people feel good because it shows them that you care about them and respect them. It also makes the courteous one feel good about themselves because they feel like they are appreciated by others. If you are courteous with others, you might just encourage others around you to be courteous as well. So don’t forget to smile at someone, offer a seat to those who need it, or even just hold the elevator.