The Iranian Shopkeeper

The shop I stopped to buy eggs at would not have looked out of place in Iran. A massive Iranian signboard, shopkeepers speaking in rapid Farsi, Iranian goods for sale and Iranian customers. Strangely, it didn't look too out of place in Harrow either! I parked outside and asked my sister to go in and pick up the eggs. She went in, tried to lift a tray and dropped two more in the process.
What were amazing were the reactions. Two people saw the whole thing – The shopkeeper and I. I had nothing to complain about, accidents happen, eggs are cheap, no big deal. The shopkeeper on the other hand, had a massive mess in his shop - the egg was already leaking into the freezers.

Strangely, the reactions were contrary to this. As I sighed heavily, switched off the car and began walking into the shop ready to complain to my sister about her clumsiness, the shopkeeper simply smiled, picked up a cloth and reassured my sister with some kind words as he began to mop up. Better still, he refused to take a penny for the broken eggs, charging us only for the eggs we took home.

As I drove home, I felt like an idiot. I will never forget that Iranian shopkeeper because of that one simple act of kindness. How many acts like that do I perform on a daily basis? In fact, how many acts like that do I perform at all? Already in my eyes, that shopkeeper has an honourable reputation. Do people know me as a kind person, or am I simply an average Joe? What does that shopkeeper have that I don’t?

I’ve heard it a thousand times from the preachers on the pulpit and never once has it sunk in. They tell us again and again that we should be known in our societies to be the best of people. A Muslim should be known from the way he interacts, his manner, his characteristics. Every time I hear it, the same thought crosses my head – If I become a better person, will I be able to change the image of Muslims around the world? But then if a man who knew nothing of Iranians except what he saw on the news had been in the shop that day, what would he have thought?