An Eid Story of Charity and Commerce

Two days ago I was walking down Kensington High Street and saw a delivery driver unloading packs of Arabic bread. Wishing him 'Eid Mubarak' he insisted on handing over a couple of packs of flat bread. In the spirit of charity and sharing characteristic of Eid, he would not take any payment.

The bread was delicious, by far the best Arabic bread I have found in London. As such, I looked up the manufacturer online and discovered it was Rayan Bakeries up in Park Royal in North London.

So this morning I drove up, bought some bread and knafeh at their patisserie and have no hesitation in recommending their products as authentic, good value and extremely tasty. However there is a deeper but simple truth that we are reminded of at Eid which resonates with non-Muslims and Muslims alike. An act of selfless charity can have both intrinsic value (we feel good when we do good) but also extrinsic value (I ended up buying Rayan's products and have no hesitation in recommending them to others).

I would like to thank the unnamed and unknown delivery driver for reminding me of this important lesson and wish the best to all our staff and partners from Morocco to Indonesia celebrating Eid with family, friends and at times, strangers like me walking down the street.