Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Salaams,

I recently read this hadith posted to someone's Facebook status.  After reading it, I tried to Google it to find a source, but was unsuccessful.  Could you give me some clue as to the history behind this hadith?  Why was it said?  What is its background?

The Prophet (saw) said, "A believer keeps his smile on his face and hides his sadness in his heart."

Jazakhallah khair!

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Smile hadith not authentic

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Respected sister in Islam, to the best of our knowledge, we have not found such a statement attributed to the Prophet (saws) in the authentic and established records of Sunnah. And Allah Alone Knows Best.

We remind you as we remind ourselves, that one should fear Allah and be extremely careful when quoting or attributing something to the Messenger of Allah (saws); for the chastisement of intentionally attributing a falsehood to Prophet Mohamed (saws) is very severe indeed.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 232 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘Be mindful when transmitting a Hadith from me. (Transmit) only that which you know (to be the Truth); for he who intentionally attributes a falsehood to me will find his abode in Hell-Fire.’

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan