The Muslim Cabbie Who Saved Chrismas
By Mahmoud El-Yousseph
17 January, 2010
There aren’t too many people who don’t remember Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, also known as “The Grinch.” It was a 2000 American film starring Jim Carey based on the 1957 book of the same name by Dr. Seuss. For four weeks it sat as the #1 film in the U.S., eventually earning $260 million at the US box office and breaking the 2007 Guinness World Record for Highest-Grossing Christmas Movie.
At the same time, I bet there are very few American who’ve heard the story of the Muslim cabbie who saved Christmas. It is another heartwarming but true Christmas story that took place last year on Christmas eve that is worthy of being made into a film for its profound effect. This was a story about honesty, integrity, ethics, and human decency, yet those who heard about, knew very little about the honest cabbie or where he came from.
It began with an Italian traveler, Felicia Lettieri, a 72 year old grandmother along with 6 members of her family who took two cabs from midtown Manhatten on Christmas eve. Mrs. Letterie left her purse and a hand bag in one of the cabs. Inside her bag was over $21,000 of the group’s traveling money, expensive jewelry, and some of group’s passports. After realizing she had lost this great fortune, she went to the police who told her “not to get her hopes up.” Her family echoed these sentiments, telling her that “this is New York. Forget about it. You have lost everything.”
Not so quick! The cab driver was a medical student from Queens, N.Y. who took a job few days a week driving a taxi after his hours were cut back at his former job. When he found the purse, he looked for contact information. Seeing the rolls of euros, nevertheless he never bothered even counting the money. He finally found the address and then asked a friend of his with a car to drive him 60 miles one way to Patchogue. When he got there, no one was home. He left his cell phone number with a note “Mrs. Letterie, don’t worry about your money, it is safe.”
After he left home to Queens, his phone rang, and it was Mrs. Lettieri, he then drove back again another 60 miles and returned all the lost items, refused to accept the reward offered him and returned back home, having driven a total of 240 miles, all for this one woman he did not know.
When asked by a reporter if he was tempted to keep the cash, he answered, “I am needy, but not greedy.” adding that when he was five, his mother told him, “be honest, work hard, you will raise your status.”
This man is precisely the type of person you want as your physician. He clearly is a man of enormous ethics and high moral principles. He has given us all a gift by his actions and integrity
.
Mrs. Lettierei’s sister, Francesca, 79, said, the honest cabbie had saved her family’s Christmas vacation. adding, “we really love what he did.”
Oh yes, I all most forgot to mention, the cabbie is Mohammad “Mukul” Asaduzzaman, 28 years old and a native of Bangladesh. Many newspapers that published this story omitted his first name for some odd reason with the exception of AP wire service. Other daily papers ignored other ‘bothersome’ facts, such as his country of origin and that he was a Muslim, thereby denying American Muslims like me a moment of pride.
No one can forget the panic and hysteria created in America and all over the world as a result of the failed Christmas bombing aboard flight 253. In contrast, the message of this Muslim medical student story is very clear–namely that these are the kind of stories we need to hear more! Real people, honest, hard working, not politicians and religious fanatics as representative of American Muslims
.
Mahmoud El-Yousseph
Retired USAF Veteran
elyousseph6@yahoo.com
Related posts:
- Guest Post: A Letter From A Palestinian Muslim to Santa
- Guest Post: Verdict Against Holy Land Charity Could Have a Chilling Effect on the Muslim Community
- Guest Post: the ‘Salt of This Sea’ Between Home and Identity
- The Hijabi Cabbie: Jerusalem’s Hottest Taxi Driver
- Guest Post: Why Arab-Americans Should Vote
I don't see the big deal of him being a muslim. And I don't see why you need to highlight that fact. Any other person with good morals and a good up-bringing would have done the same thing. Muslim or not.
He did not do what he did because he was muslim, he did it because he was a good guy.
Any other spin on the story is just that. Spin.
Posted by babagannouj | January 18, 2010, 3:51 pmAnd why american muslims should be proud of him? Only because he is a Muslim?? you guys always argue that the muslims should not be considered as a monolithic entity but jump at the earliest opportunity to claim an immigrant bangladeshi student, (do you even know his native language?) as your own. Let me tell you this. I also come from the same part of the world. Our native language is same(bengali) and we have been exposed to the similar social and cultural tradtions, even though I am not Muslim. Am I supposed to be more proud for him? Instead of tagging him for our own agenda and try to earn brownie points, we should celebrate this honest and upright gentleman, a species facing extinction all over the world, across all religion.
Posted by Rudy | January 18, 2010, 4:29 pmAllahu Akbar!! That woman was very fortunate to have been in his cab. Thanks for a great story that certainly deserved much more attention.
Posted by UmLora | January 19, 2010, 3:06 amYou guys are missing the point: the only reason he's pointing out that the cabbie was muslim was to highlight the fact that the media is quick to point out that someone is muslim when they do something bad, but not so quick to point it out when they do something good.
The media did the same thing with blacks and hispanics when I was a kid. Whenever a crime was committed by a minority member the media made a point of mentioning it.
Posted by zara | January 19, 2010, 6:50 amzara: the only reason he's pointing out that the cabbie was muslim is to credit all muslims, to present a sort of "muslim success story" BUT, as Rudy points out above, the muslims are always arguing that they are not a monolithic entity. For example, when Ft Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan murdered people, then he had nothing at all to do with muslims. Suicide bombing is not a muslim thing. Palestinian extremism has nothing to do with muslims, the cartoon riots all over the world were not muslim, the Paris riots were not muslim, ect.
Posted by Zena | January 19, 2010, 7:07 amI read several places that included his first name in this story. It's a great one.
Posted by kinzi | January 19, 2010, 12:59 pmSome how, I feel compelled to respond.
First of all thanks for all the feedback.
Let me make some clarification.
I take issues with comments from babajanoug, Rudy a Zena.
I think poster Zena said it best.
We are lead to believe by our media that is an act of goodness by a Muslim is an exception, where as bad deeds by Muslim are the rules. That is dead wrong, and the story of this honest Muslim medical student illustrate that. I was trying to emphasize it in my article.
When a Muslim cab driver in N.Y. refused fare for a flight attended carrying wine. That was a front page story.
When a Muslim cabbie in Minnesota kicked out two gay lovers from his taxi for public display of affection. The news made sure every one knows the driver was a MUSLIM.
After a cabbie in Tennessee run over two of his drunk customer fellowing a heated religious argument, you guess it, the news high lite the fact he was Muslim.
A cabbie in London, England was fine for refusing fare to guide dog. What else, the cabbie did because he is a Muslim and Muslim consider the dog as unclean animal. Did any one says that the media has an agenda of defaming Muslim ? Of course not.
But why would anyone hide behind the name of famous Arabic food [babaganouj] attack an article defending Muslims is beyond me.
The article states facts as it should have been reported not for credit, but for fairness and accuracy in reporting. Nice try babajanouj! Spinning a story is not my style. You need to do your home work first and get wet behind the ears before you make a blatant accusation.
If you really wanted to learn about spinning a story, check the report about the Miami Seven arrest few years ago. When 7 thugs were arrested in Miami by the FBI, the story was they were Muslims planning to blow up the Sears Tower. Few days later, the FBI did admit, it was due to the help of a Muslim informants the 7 thugs were arrested. The other fact was: None of them were Muslim or attended any Mosque in their lives. Well, too late. The damage was done. Muslim end paying the price. The same goes with the underwear would be bomber of last Christmas day. America was giving plenty of advance warning about his activities-even by his father. Yes he was allowed to board a flight with no lugguage, one way ticket bought in cash, I would have not let him on even if his name was Smith or Jones.
The end result, Muslims end paying the price for some dumb ass mistakes of some one who did not do their job as they suppose to do. Now Muslims or non Muslims flying into or from 14 Muslim countries would be subject for humiliating body screening. That might make you feel good, but it is not going to make America safer. Remember the shoe bomber and dirty bomber? Neither have names or look of a Muslim or Middle Eastern. When America panics, the terrorists win!
As far as Rudy is concern, Why does the name of Muslim enemy # 1 [former mayor of N.Y.C.]comes to mind when I see your screen name? Why does it matter if I could speak the native language of Mohammad? After all, he is a Brother in Faith to me.And if you are from that part of the world as you claim, I find it odd that you go by screen name such as: Rudy. No offense to any one else with this name. Don't you have a pride in your culture and heritage?
Last, but not least Miss. Zena.
I could recount a thousand incidents where Muslim were the victims of Jewish and Christians atrocities and war cirmes, but no one suggests that was the dark side of Judaism or Christians massacres my dear. Look no further than the illegal and inhumane SIEGE OF GAZA, DRONE ATTACKS in Pakistan and Afghanistan to name few. And if you truly wanted to know how this Muslim writer and others like him feel about crimes attributed to Muslim, all what you need is: go to google search engine. You will find the answer there. That is all the time I got. Thanks to all and especially the moderator for giving us all a forum.
Posted by Mahmoud El-Youssleph | January 19, 2010, 3:58 pmMahmoud, sorry but your examples of the media "defaming" Muslims are garbage. In every case you listed the person did what they did for religious reasons. It would be poor journalism not to point that out. They do the same thing when Christians of some denominations refuse medical treatment or do something else that's extremely atypical and/or socially and legally problematic. I really can't understand how you think the media is supposed to report on that type of story WITHOUT mentioning the beliefs of the perp?
Posted by programmer craig | January 19, 2010, 4:24 pm"if you are from that part of the world as you claim, I find it odd that you go by screen name such as: Rudy. No offense to any one else with this name. Don't you have a pride in your culture and heritage?
" –
It is amusing that you take a dig at my name which has nothing to do with the post and proves that you are more interested in making snide personal remarks rather than engaging in meaningful debates. Well, I am Rudrajit Chakraborty, and my friends call me Rudy. And dont worry, I have no emotional insecurity about my culture and heritage. They can withstand the unspeakable atrocious act of someone calling me Rudy instead of Rudrajit.
Posted by rudy_Infidel | January 19, 2010, 11:46 pmThis is reply from Rudy (for some reason I could not post without creating an account, and Rudy was already taken)
Ok, so he is now a brother in faith. I guess osama bin Laden is a brother in faith too? or do you claim and disown muslim "brothers" around the world to fit your agenda and convenience?
If you really want people to stop stereotyping the muslims, you have to regulate this ad-hoc pan-islamic brotherhood. If you start to claim every other muslim at remote corners of the world and celebrate their success as your own for the sake of brotherhood then you are actually helping those people who are trying to pin you only on your muslim identity, irrespective of your national, social and cultural background. It is as silly as "Muslim = terrorist" extrapolation. If you want to consciously propagate the "muslim = one monolithic entity based on faith" equation, you are free to do so, but dont complain if you are stereotyped, since you are doing the same to yourself.
Posted by rudy_Infidel | January 19, 2010, 11:45 pmexcellent point.
Posted by eagle007blogger | January 20, 2010, 4:38 am"if you are from that part of the world as you claim, I find it odd that you go by screen name such as: Rudy. No offense to any one else with this name. Don't you have a pride in your culture and heritage?
" –
It is interesting that you take a dig at my name which has nothing to do with the post and proves that you are more interested in making snide personal remarks rather than engaging in meaningful debates. Well, I am Rudrajit Chakraborty, and my friends call me Rudy. And no, I have no emotional insecurity about my culture and heritage. They can withstand the unspeakable atrocious act of someone calling me Rudy instead of Rudrajit.
Posted by rudy_Infidel | January 19, 2010, 11:46 pmI could recount a thousand incidents where Muslim were the victims of Jewish and Christians atrocities and war cirmes, but no one suggests that was the dark side of Judaism or Christians massacres
That is because these things are not done in the name of any religion.
And in the cases of the cartoon riots… people lost their lives but many of the victims were Muslim. A lot of the terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan is perpetrated by Muslims against Muslims… such as when a funeral is bombed, or a marketplace. In Iraq bombs were put in cart selling flour, so that when innocent people were gathered around to buy food, they would be killed.
SIEGE OF GAZA, DRONE ATTACKS in Pakistan and Afghanistan to name few
The siege in Gaza or the drone attacks in Pakistan are not done in the name of any religion or to bring greatness to God.
As you know, Muslim crimes are usually done in the name of Islam, in the name of Allah, in fact they usually yell "Allahu Akbar" which means God is great.
Posted by eagle007blogger | January 20, 2010, 4:36 amIt's a nice story but I doubt it will be counterbalancing all the hatecrimes Muslims perpetrated on Christians over this past Christmas. But at least the author of this post didn't attempt to make it seem like this was a counter-example to some atrocity, as other KABOBfesters have in the past.
Posted by programmer craig | January 19, 2010, 4:18 pmPlease read some of the feedback I got from other readers.
I will not comment, as it speaks for itself.
This is not the first time a Muslim cabbie has done such a thing in the US. A few years back a Jewish man in the Jewellery business fromMontreal was traveling in a cab driven by a Muslim in New York and forgot his attache case full of gold jewellery in the vehicle. The cabbie noticed it later and with the aid of the passenger's business card in there tracked him down through his business in Montreal.
This article appeared under the title of "A Muslim cabbie, a Jew and an attache case full of jewellery".
Of course such acts of honesty irritates those bent of defaming Muslims, but Allah sees all and He is the One that decides on matters. "The unbelievers are plotting but Allah is Planning and He is the Best of planners" (the Quran).
So be patient and soon matters will be taken care of. There are already many signs of such a development.
Regards
R.
I know a story like this happened several years ago in Rosemont, IL. where a palestinian cabby took a Jewish business man to the trade center .
the driver found out $75000 in a bag the business man forget in the car . When the palestinian driver could not found the man he went to the Rosemont police .after few hours when the business man remember his money went to rosemont police and told them the driver stole his money
they got mad at him for his lies and they give him his money. He did not offer the driver any reword . the police made a reword for the driver.
J.
Posted by Mahmoud El-Yousseph | January 19, 2010, 4:27 pmThe cabbie was interviewed on FOX News this morning, Tue, January 19
VIDEO HERE
The story was also published on FOX News on Tuesday, January 12 HERE – with full name included.
FOX News is criticized a lot on this blog, for no reason, but we can all see that FOX really is Fair and Balanced
Posted by eagle007blogger | January 20, 2010, 4:17 amIt's obvious there are a lot of people who are highly threatened by the idea a Muslim can ever do anything right or honorable. I see the trolls wasted no time descending on this one.
Posted by Sean2009 | January 20, 2010, 3:42 pmSorry to see you making a sweeping statement like that. I am new here and was trying to make a point for a meaningful discussion. Why do you consider it as trolling?
Posted by rudy_Infidel | January 21, 2010, 12:14 amDon't worry about Sean2009 – he likes to call names and make insults. If you ever disagree with his far-left agenda of defending terrorism and promosting socialism, he will call you a fascist or a troll or some other nonsense.
He subscribes to the new socialist fascism represented by Obama-ites… the government knows best, the government should control everything, if the government says it you should just accept it, and anyone who disagrees or protests the government needs to be demonized, such as the tea party protesters.
So see, if you disagree with Sean's socialist fascism, he will demonize you and call you names. its what they do.
You should look up "Saul Alinksy" to learn more about how these Sean types operate.
Posted by eagle007blogger | January 21, 2010, 5:01 amI don't see where I singled you out specifically, but if you are here for meaningful discussion then welcome. When I talk about trolling, I am talking more of people like our friend Eagle here, who spends most of his time trying to derail serious and meaningful discussion with his moronic and childish insults and prolific but pathetic trolls like the one below. He infests Kbf because any other blog would have banned his ass with extreme prejudice long ago, but the staff here apparently keeps him around for comic effect. Beware getting into a "debate," with him and his fellow rectal pagliacci, as they won't let up until they get the last word in, no matter how stupid or low they have to stoop to do it. Watch Fox News early enough, and you'll know his opinion on any issue before he does.
Posted by Sean2009 | January 21, 2010, 12:25 pmhmm, insult is quite a serious business here. I have to develop some skills I afraid.
I am somewhere between the ultra-left and ultra-right, maybe a little bit on the left side. Anyway, thanks Sean and Eagle, for your thoroughly enjoyble clarifications.
Posted by rudy_Infidel | January 21, 2010, 2:37 pmSorry to drag you into our little war here, but you did ask about trolling
Posted by Sean2009 | January 21, 2010, 5:45 pmas I was the only irregular one, I felt you meant me. Anyway., chill.
Posted by rudy_Infidel | January 21, 2010, 6:54 pmNo one is having a "war" here except you, Sean. You show up during a discussion about a cab driver and media coverage of him… and start calling names and being ignorant.
Look above your comments…. discussion and debate. Then YOU show up and start calling people names. LOL
Posted by eagle007blogger | January 22, 2010, 6:00 amAs you can see here, Sean constantly makes insults and calls names.
Occasionally he makes some point that needs refuting, but usually its what you see above. I mostly just ignore his Ad Hominem attacks.
Posted by eagle007blogger | January 22, 2010, 5:57 amIts ridiculous how people like Rudy and Eagle would criticize Muslims for praising a fellow Muslim on a good deed done well.
Just because we do not like to be associated with a brother who is a criminal, should we also distance ourselves from a brother who is a hero? It is the inherent nature of man to appreciate acts of good and more-so when it is from ones own community.
Muslims everywhere is also a community in-itself. We call it an Ummah. Where everyone is like a brethren to each other. A brotherhood which cuts across and above all petty nationalistic feelings.
Like the Prophet(pbuh) said: The Ummah is like a body. If one part is hurt, the whole body feels the pain.
So yes! I am proud of the fact that my fellow brethren finds inspiration from our religion, Islam, to commit an act of honesty and unselfishness. With the hope the American (and the Western people in general) will not spiral into the self-destructive, xenophobic mentality which the main-stream media is so gently coaxing them into.
Posted by OooKhalid | February 26, 2010, 7:24 pm