A complete stranger paying for the bill of people in a restaurant with no strings attached is not very common. But it is unmistakeably rare when a stranger, presumably a Christian, pays for the tab of a group of Muslims with a "Merry Christmas" message written on the bill to boot.
This happened to a group of 12 Muslims who recently dined at a restaurant in Georgia, according to Rawstory.
In a post on his Facebook page, Eslam S. Mohamed recalled that he was with a group of 12 Muslims who dined at a restaurant in Augusta, Georgia on Christmas Eve.
"Yesterday I went to Olive Garden restaurant to have dinner with nice families. We were a group of 7 adults and 5 children," he wrote."Everyone in the restaurant was knowing that we were Arabs Muslims on the table coz of the language and the ladies were having scarves over their head (Hijab). After finishing we asked for the receipts and the waitress came to us with that receipt in the picture [he posted on his Facebook page]."
Written across the bill were the words "Paid – Merry Christmas — Beautiful family."
"Yes, someone paid for us and wrote those wonderful words on the receipt. I can't express how this act touched our hearts," Mohamed wrote.
"Among all the bad things happening to Muslims and the hate speech that the presidential candidate had made lately, there is still light in the dark, there is still hope within the frustration."
He added, "All that I can say to who did that, Merry Christmas to you too and God bless such a beautiful heart you have."
On Thursday, New Year's Eve, Mohamed made another post on his Facebook page, saying that he received "tons of messages" after recalling the act of generosity he and his family received from a stranger.
"Some said that im a liar. Some said Islam is poison. Some said things that I can't express [grin emoticon]. Some said that saying Merry Christmas will denounce me of my religion. Some said the chicken I ate is not halal," he wrote.
"I feel so sorry for those people coz they didn't get the real meaning of the post but the majority of people got the message of love, peace and humanity and that's what relieved me," he added.
