Mustafa was playing with his toys in the living room. He liked to line up all his cars in a row and pretend they were stuck in traffic. Sometimes he made funny honking noises, and talked to himself, while zooming the cars around the room.
His sister Reem was sitting across the room on the couch, working hard at solving the Rubik’s cube. She had gotten most of the faces to match, but she kept getting stuck on the last two sides. Her dad had shown her how to do it, but she still hadn’t gotten the hang of it.
Mustafa was pretend-driving past her with a car, when he stopped to see what his sister was doing.
‘Hmmm, I think you need to move the green one here’, he suggested, pointing to a square.
‘No, Mustafa. You can’t just move one part, it messes up the entire cube. Don’t worry I’ve almost got it, I think’, answered Reem, going back to her puzzle.
Mustafa was concerned. His sister had been playing with the cube for a long time. How come she wasn’t bored of it? He felt sad that she was trying so hard, and still couldn’t solve her puzzle. And he wished that she would play with him, she always made the best police siren sounds when they played traffic!
He went to look for his mom or dad. Mustafa found his father reading the newspaper. ‘Hey Daddy! Can you help me to help Reem?’, he asked.
‘Hey bud. Come on in. What does your sister need help with?’, asked his father.
‘Reem has been trying to solve the Rubik’s cube puzzle thing for days. And she still can’t figure it out. I thought we could find out a way to help her get all the colors in order’, he explained.
‘Hmmm. Did she ask for your help?’
‘No Daddy. But I’d still like to help, so that she can get done fast. Mommy says we should always try to help others*. And if Reem is finished with her puzzle that means she can play with me!’, he answered.
His dad grinned. ‘I see. It’s nice of you to want to help your sister. But she probably wants to solve the puzzle on her own though. How about we ask her if she wants to take a break to play for a bit?’
‘Good idea!’, he said running to the living room.
‘Hey, Reem. How’re you doing on that Rubik’s cube, honey?’, asked Daddy sitting down next to her.
‘I can’t get these last two parts to match! I’ve been trying for so long, Daddy.’, replied Reem sounding frustrated.
‘See what I was talking about Daddy?’, whispered Mustafa.
Daddy chuckled. ‘Mustafa thought you might need help to solve your puzzle. Would you like for me to show it to you one more time?’, asked her dad.
‘No, Daddy. I saw you do it plenty of times, but I still can’t figure out where I’m going wrong. Maybe I need a break.’, she said
‘See what I was talking about Daddy?’, whispered Mustafa again.
His Dad burst out laughing. ‘A break might do you good honey. Do you want to go over to the playground for a while?’
‘Yeah!’, cheered the kids. They all got on their shoes and headed to the playground.
Mustafa was deep in thought while walking to the playground. Suddenly he had an idea.
‘How about we make a video of Daddy doing the puzzle. So when you try to play with it next time, you could see where you’re stuck?’, suggested Mustafa as they were walking.
‘That’s a great idea Mustafa!’, replied Reem enthusiastically.
‘Hmm, it sure is buddy. I wish I had thought if it!’, said Daddy.
Mustafa smiled modestly. ‘Well, I remembered how we had made a video of my project at school and that gave me the idea’, he explained.
They played at the park for a while and went home to make the video. By the end of the day, Reem had solved the Rubik’s cube.
‘You know, Reem I’m so proud that you didn’t give up on your Rubik’s cube. That was one tough puzzle, but you kept at it. And Mustafa you were wonderful at helping your sister. You both did so well! This calls for an ice cream treat!’, announced Daddy.
The kids jumped with joy and the entire family had a wonderful celebration.
*Story inspiration : “Allah is helping the servant as long as the servant is helping his brother.”(Recorded in Muslim)