Random Act of Kindness

The weather was cool. The day was perfect for walking, and we had already walked three miles. My twin girls were getting a bit impatient, but that was understandable. We had walked to the library that morning, and then headed for a park I had seen on the map. But as much as we walked, we never came to it, and we had already asked two people about it and they had never heard of it.

So, knowing my two-years-old’s hearts were set on going to a park, I decided to walk to the far away park; another mile. As I pushed their 25-pound stroller carrying 57 pounds of toddlers uphill, I renewed my intention that letting my kids play in a park would make their bodies stronger and widen their horizons, hoping to please Allah (swt).

So I chugged on.

Finally, we saw it! There was the park, right across the street. All we had to do was cross. I carefully watched for each of the four lanes of the opposite-flowing traffic to clear, then attempted to cross. Unfortunately, to our right was a bend in the road, around which the traffic was coming fast, so I could never safely get by all four lanes of traffic.

I attempted to cross six times before giving up.

Oh, how tempting the park looked, with the slides, stairs and monkey bars! We had walked 4 miles to get here, and now we couldn’t get in. There was no other place to cross except here, as only at this point was there a sidewalk to cross to.

“Ya Allah,” I thought to myself. “We’ve come all this way so the girls could play, and now I’m not able to get in. Did I make a mistake in bringing them here?”

I tried to think of any way to cross, and the only way I could see was if a car coming around the corner stopped just for me, in the middle of the road, and let me safely cross.

I didn’t think that was likely to happen.

Subhan Allah.

Not a minute went by before a car came around the bend, slowed, and stopped in the middle of the road. Not only that, but he honked so the cars in the lane next to his could stop for me also.

Random Act of Kindness.

My eyes were full to the brim with tears as I crossed the road and thanked the driver. I choked as I explained to my girls what had just happened, though they didn’t quite grasp the enormity of his deed.

Were you ever touched by a Random Act of Kindness?

Asiya Akyurt

Asiya Akyurt lives in Virginia with her husband and twin daughters. She is an active MAS member with an ijaza (certificate) in Qur’anic recitation and tajweed, and enjoys teaching, interpreting and translating