Empathy & Your Face

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “You cannot be a true Muslim until you are kind among yourselves…Kindness is not this that you sympathize with your companion, but kindness is this that you think all men deserving of it.” [Tibrani]

In order for your advice to others to be effective they have to feel that you genuinely care about them. 90% of communication is non-verbal. If you want people to feel that you genuinely care about them then only saying so is not going to be sufficient, because they will read your true feelings from your non verbal communication. Human beings can make more than ten thousand facial expressions. At least three thousand of them have distinct meaning. [Blink] 

Your face is a billboard for your feelings. In addition, the expressions you make influence what you feel. Notice that Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wasallam) discusses both aspects: That you show sympathy, and also that you feel sympathy because the expression and the feelings both work on each other. Develop true empathy and it will be communicated.

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