3 Ways To Make The Elderly Smile 🙂

Elderly people are people that have more knowledge and more experience than young people. Normally, people who are old, need help from other people. They have helped us when we were small so now we have to treat them nicely. Most importantly, make them smile…..

Lesson #1 : Respect them.

The first way to treat them nicely is to respect them. Greet them and give salam to them. If they give salam to you, you should answer their salam and start a conversation with them. Ask them questions like ‘ Have you already eaten?’ or ‘Do you want a ride home?’. Don’t be rude to them. If they need help, don’t stick your nose in the air.

As an example, an old man was sitting on a bench at the park. You were jogging at that park. When you wanted to rest, you wanted to sit down on the bench next to the old man. So to be polite, you should ask that man, ‘Is this seat taken?’. If he let you sit on that bench, you should sit down and introduce yourself and start a conversation with him. Be polite, and make him smile….

Lesson #2 : Give priority to them.

The 2nd way to be polite to them is to give priority to the older people. We should always give priority to the elderly. In anything we do we have to put others before ourself. That is one of the features of a true ‘khalifa’.

As an example, you were sitting in the bus. Your destination is five stations away so you think you deserve to sit on a seat. But you see a old lady standing at the back of the bus. Her destination is one station away. So what should you do? You should give up your seat for that old lady. After she already sat down, take a look at her. I’m sure she would be smiling.

Lesson #3 : Help them.

We should always help a person in need. Whether that person is an old man who needs to cross the road or a little toddler who needs his nappy changed, we still have to help them. Allah reminded us to help each other in Surah Al-Maidah in verse 2 (5:2).

As an example, your old next door neighbour just got back from the grocery store. You were already in the car to go to work, but you saw she was struggling with all the groceries. So what is your action? You should help her carry all those groceries into her house. If that is your choice, I promise you that your neighbour will thank you and smile…..

Now you know how to act towards elderly people. So next time you see a person who is older than you, don’t stick your nose in the air. Respect them, give priority to them, help them and smile….