NY store owner gives would-be thief $40 and bread

[villager]

Source: AP


NY store owner gives would-be thief $40 and bread


By FRANK ELTMAN

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – A rifle-toting convenience store owner said he decided to show mercy on a would-be robber after seeing the man collapse into tears and claim he was only committing the crime to support his starving family.

The Long Island store owner provided the bat-wielding man with $40 and a loaf of bread and made him promise never to rob again.

"This was a grown man, crying like a baby," Mohammad Sohail, owner of the Shirley Express convenience store about 65 miles east of New York City, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

The man dropped the bat, picked up the bread and tucked the $40 into his waistband before fleeing, said Suffolk County police Sgt. John Best.

Sohail, who moved to the United States from Pakistan about 20 years ago, said he was getting ready to close his store shortly after midnight on May 21 when the man in his 40s entered with a bat in his hand. Sohail said he tried to stall for a moment and then grabbed a rifle he keeps behind the counter and ordered the assailant to drop the bat.

The would-be thief dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness, Sohail said.

"He started crying that he was out of work and was trying to feed his hungry family," he said. "I felt bad for him. I mean, this wasn't some kid."

He said he tossed $40 to the man, who then stood up and told Sohail he was inspired by the act of mercy and wanted to become a fellow Muslim. Sohail said he led the man in a profession of Muslim faith and the two ended up shaking hands.

<snip>

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090603/ap_on_re_us/us_odd_would_be_thief

[ecstatic]

1. "he decided to show mercy"

:crazy:

[Burma Jones]

2. What a Christian thing to do.......wait.......

Why are most of the people I've known that exhibit actual Christian behavior not Christians?

[Amonester]

7. Because, ever since the phony "trickle down" mantra was imposed...

on US by the Money Party, down is up, slavery is freedom, war is peace, and on, and on.

Change is just another phony mantra (reality is: status quo is change)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

16. And a very very Muslim thing to do

All the chapters (suras) of the Qur'an, save one, start "Bismillah er Rahman er Rahim", which translates to "In the Name of the One, who is Mercy and Compassion". This store owner was practicing his faith, embodying er Rahman.

[Burma Jones]

21. I know..........

And a Ethical Humanist thing to do and a Jewish thing to do and a Buddhist thing to do and so on and so on

This sort of devotion can be the hardest to practice......

[elleng]

26. THANK YOU!

.

[peace13]

3. Kick because this clerk should be a model for the rest of us. n/t

[elleng]

5. The store owner is Pakistani.

[closeupready]

8. From following Latest Breaking News stories here on DU, that does not compute.

:rofl:

[elleng]

10. Saw author of this book yesterday.

LOTS to learn about Pakistan.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05102009/postopinion/postopbooks/to_live_or_to_perish_forever_168430.htm

[closeupready]

18. I know people who have been Pakistanis since the country's founding.

And who have been part of the political elite, and they tell me just the opposite to what this guy claims (in hyperbolic fashion). I don't mean this disrespectfully, but your sources are the New York Post, Fox News and someone who was 'given access' to Pakistan through the prism of a 'radical muslim cleric.' I am not buying the pro-war hysteria being shoved down our throats by the American military/industrial complex.

Anyway, peace to you and yours, elleng. :) :hi:

[elleng]

24. Thanks, closeup.

My best source is my landlord and SO, a Pakistani ('senior' some would say) with whom I attended the book discussion yesterday. He and his family were there when Pakistan was founded, and I've met some of his family who lives there today. He's a U.S. citizen, and has been here for 50 years. He returned last year for a wedding and reunion.

I'll talk with him more about your comments and the review, and what the author said last night. There was nothing hyperbolic about this guy; he lived there for 2 years, described some of his experiences, and responded to questions and had brief discussions with audience members in a measured manner.

I don't touch the NY Post (except that was the only review I found) or faux! We will uncover the 'true facts.'

:-)

[closeupready]

28. And of course, it's a fairly large, populous country so,

there are going to be many who may sympathize with the Taliban alongside others who do not. Cheers.

[elleng]

31. VERY large.

140 million?

[closeupready]

33. Yes, about right, and ethnically mixed, too.

There are Punjabis and Sindhis and Pashtuns and God knows how many other ethnic groups that are actually indistinct and mixed with each other.

[peace13]

11. I don't care what nationality he is.

I watched the video without sound so was unaware that he was the store OWNER and apologize for that mistake. We are people first and good deeds go from person to person no matter color or nationality. My comment was no slam at all. I am curious about your comment.

[elleng]

13. I meant no slam; just setting the record straight.

Since then, I've learned about Sufi tradition, similar to others, to turn something bad into something good.

[peace13]

19. Very sweet!

Sorry for the hair trigger. Peace, Kim

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

22. I figured he was Sufi

so many in Pakistan are. Wonder which Order he belongs to--not that it matters, mind, just curious.

[elleng]

25. and THAT WAS MY ERROR!!!

SUNNI SUNNI SUNNI!!! NO Dervishes!!!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

34. too bad

but he can be Sunni AND Sufi. Sufis aren't exclusionary. I know of Christian ministers who are Sufi, much less Sunni Muslims.

[elleng]

4. Shalom

Assalamu Alaikum

O8)

[mdmc]

6. r

turn that cheek bra

[zbdent]

9. why do I get the impression that, if this was in a red state, not a blue state,

the would-be thief would have received, not Christian charity (from a probable non-Christian), not $40, but a bullet to the head, plus 5 more in the back while the would-be thief lies on the floor, incapable of defending himself?

Oh, maybe it's because something like that happened already ...

[elleng]

12. I think you've missed the point:

Whatever color the state, the Pakistani store owner recognized the need of the would-be robber, and turned a bad thing into a good thing. Its from Sufi Islam tradition, I'm told by a friend.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

14. pleased to be #5

blessed are those that show mercy to the dispossessed.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

15. Er Rahman

Showing mercy is an admirable trait. Alhumdulilah for the store owner to follow the teachings of his faith.

[Aristus]

17. He didn't shoot the guy to death? How un-American!

:sarcasm:

And God bless that store owner. Mercy and compassion are in pretty short supply these days...

[tomg]

20. An absolutely beautiful person. nt

[Vidar]

23. The owner is a good man.

[ConcernedCanuk]

27. If my USAmerican landlady could only have a tiny bit of his spirit

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My life could be much better

Maybe I'll rent off a Pakistani next time . .

Tell ya what though

I'll never rent off an American in my own country again

NEVER!

[BOG PERSON]

29. Islam: the most barbaric religion in the modern world!

:sarcasm:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

35. welcome to DU

:hi:

[ConcernedCanuk]

36. ..

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.
.

Christianity is the way to go!

We've been slaughtering those non-believers for centuries

Now we got them nuclear weapons and that depleted uranium bullet stuff

We don't need Hitler and his gas chambers

"Collateral damage" and polluting the whole country with depleted uranium

we'll get the job done -

Genocide - USAmerican style

one sick fucking country . .

[kirby]

30. Shouldn't this be in the Gun forum?

I mean this store owner, using nothing but his 2nd amendment rifle, probably signed by Peter Frampton, converted the bat wielding robber into a Muslim in just a few minutes! Just think what bazookas could do for Christianity?

[ConcernedCanuk]

37. You can post in the forum wherever you want - cross-posting is not a problem unless it's frivolous

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Go for it

[Uncle Joe]

32. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, villager.:thumbsup: