The scorching hot weather turned the crowd towards this one cafe. Apparently the cafe is thronged with people, in effort of cooling themselves down by sipping cold drinks and nibbling some light meals alongside the chatters of their table companions.
At this one partially hidden corner of the cafe, sat this one old man, alone by himself. As he was seated, the waitress handed in the menu list and poured him a glass of drinking water. He then promptly flipped straight towards the desserts selection of the menu.
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Once he made the selection, he quickly waved towards the waitress, that always seen busy to attend the customers' need around.
“How much is this strawberry ice cream sundae?” he asked while pointing towards the picture of the tempting sundae.
“Two dollars and ninety-nine cents,” replied the waitress.
She was slightly irritated as the price list is clearly stated on the right side of the menu, but the old man chose to ignore it and keen on asking the waitress instead.
The old man then pulled out his antique and nearly-torn wallet out of his pocket and counting the coins in his palm, one by one. After finished in doing so, he turned his face towards the waitress and asked once again,
“Well, how much is for just one scoop of plain strawberry ice cream?” he inquired with hesitated tone.
By now, more and more people were waiting to be seated and the waitress was growing impatient to attend to this one sluggish customer.
“Just a dollar and ninety-nine cents,” she replied brusquely.
The old man again counted his coins one by one, and said “I’ll have the plain ice cream then.”
Without much wait, the waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away hurriedly. With the elated look mounting on his face, the old man started to eat his ice cream. Simply, nothing better than indulging with some cold and sweet treat during this searing weather, regardless of the age. After finished eating, he paid the bill to the cashier and left the cafe.
When the waitress came back to clean up the table, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. Much to her surprise, there on the table, placed neatly beside an empty ice-cream bowl, one dollar worth of coin. Turned out to be, the old man could not have the sundae that he intended to have on the first place, all because he had to have enough left to leave the waitress a tip.
As for the moral value that can be extracted from this story, we need to express our kindness to all those we encounter upon, as this is the exact way of Prophet Muhammad practised during the time of his dakwah moves. Prophet Muhammad himself was a very kind and loving person, as he treated every one, young and old, with much kindness and respect.
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| Every act of kindness grows the spirit & strengthen the soul |
Once, this one old woman made a habit of throwing rubbish towards Prophet Muhammad whenever he passed from her house on the way to the mosque, on daily basis. Even when the old woman kept throwing rubbish on him, he would pass silently without showing any anger or annoyance towards the old woman.
One day when the Prophet was passing by, the woman was not there to throw the rubbish as she normally would. He stopped by and asked the neighbour about her current well-being. The neighbour informed that the woman fell sick and just motionlessly lying on her bed all day. Then the Prophet politely asked permission to visit the woman.
When he allowed to enter the house, the woman initially thought that he had come there to take his revenge, when she was defenceless due to her sickness. But the Prophet assured her that he had come to her, not to take any revenge, but to see her and to look after her needs instead, as it was clearly the command of Allah that if anyone fell sick, a Muslim should pay a visit and offers any help in need.
As the consequence, the old woman was greatly moved by the kindness and love being shown by the Prophet. By the example of greatness of Prophet Muhammad, she understood that he was truly the Prophet of God and Islam was indeed the true religion. She then wholeheartedly decided to accept Islam.
To sum up, small acts of kindness performed regularly will surely bring a big impact in life later on. The time has come when we cannot just rely on the others to change the world to a better place, as each one of us has to do our distinctive bit and roles. Do guard well within ourself, the treasure of kindness. Also, know how to give without regret and how to acquire without meanness.
Written by : Inche Songkok Hitam
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