“It’s nice to be nice” – such a common phrase, almost everyone knows it.

But it begs the question… is it? Is it nice to be nice?

How many times have you made the effort for someone to ignore you, treat you bad or take advantage of your niceness?

Being nice to be nice is not really motivating. What if we don’t want to be nice? What if we feel like being nasty? There’s plenty of nasty people around did they just not feel like being nice today?

Some people feel pleasure in seeing others hurt, they feel excited when there’s drama, gossiping and negativity around them – they feel comfortable.

Astaghfirullah… I think it’s much better, logical and fulfilling to be nice for the sake of Allah. To await reward from Him. To receive no thanks from anybody but know that He is the Appreciative He even made Angels to record every nice thing we do.

Who else would make such an effort for you? Some people work with you for months but still don’t make the effort to know your name. Who else would reward you just for smiling? Nobody except Allah.

Furthermore, Google explains “nice” as Giving pleasure or satisfaction; pleasant or attractive.

Sometimes it’s nice just to be honest, that’s more kind. But that’s not necessarily attractive? The word ‘nice’ is not powerful enough to describe the absolute amazing-ness of our Lord yet some people are not satisfied with Islam as their religion. Sometimes, I refuse to shake hands with men… people feel like I’m not nice or pleasant but Allah does.

So it’s better to have manners, good character and if you are nice, be nice for the sake of Allah.

“Good manners are almost two-thirds of religion. (Ibn al-Mubarak, Sifaat as-Safwah (v. 4, p. 145))

Most importantly be a nice person regardless of others. Don’t wait for others to be nice to you. Everyone’s definition of ‘nice’ varies depending on their own vision, therefore someone might feel they are nice, but to you they are not. Therefore, be nice by following the Sunnah there is nothing more nice than that. And remember:

This world is a bridge and a bridge should not be taken as a home.

We all have feelings and views but Islam gives us limits. I can be angry or fall out with someone but Allah tells us not to exceed 3 days. Like a time-out we give to our children, to calm down, reflect and seek Allah’s help… we have 3 days to learn how to forgive, even if we don’t want to – for the sake of Allah. To get over the problem, in a mature and eloquent way.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

Do not cut off one another, nor desert one another, nor hate one another, nor envy one another. Be you , O worshipers of Allah, brothers. It is not lawful for the Muslim to shun his brother for more than three(days). (At-Tirmidhi)

(From Discovering Islam’s archive)