Traffic Stop

The tired-looking man in well-worn clothes stood at the large intersection wearing a large sign that read, “Have a family, will work for food.” I had passed him many times as I made my way around town, yet somehow I never got around to offering help to this fellow traveller as I went about my work.

One day as I was going past the same intersection, I saw him once again steadfastly standing there. The traffic had stopped for a red light, and in the lane to my left a lady quickly got out of her car with two full bags of groceries, which she promptly handed to the man. They exchanged a few words before the lights changed, she jumped back in her car and drove away.

The man’s face lit up, his weariness lifted by this unknown woman’s kindness. Carefully hugging the groceries, he slowly walked away from the crossroads; his radiant smile said it all.

In a fraction of a moment’s time his day had changed, and hers, and mine, and everyone else who sat in their cars and witnessed the exchange. The traffic still flowed, everything was the same, yet it was so very different.

Abdullah ibn Umar R.A. reported that the Messenger of Allah SWT said: “The Muslim is the brother of his fellow Muslim; he should not mistreat him or let him down. Whoever meets the needs of his brother, Allah will meet his needs, and whoever relieves a Muslim of some distress, Allah will relieve him of some of the distress of the day of resurrection. (Bukhari)

source : http://islamicthinking.tumblr.com