Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2014-04-25

An act of generosity by a Muslim man in Canada has set social media abuzz.

A Canadian bus driver could not believe his eyes when he saw a generous Muslim man taking off his shoes to give them to a barefoot bus rider, choosing to walk home barefooted.

Surjit Singh Virk, a Coast Mountain Bus Co. a bus driver for 16 years, was off-duty last Saturday, returning from Surrey B.C.’s Vaisakhi parade  told QMI Agency:  “It made my heart melt.”

“He just took his shoes and socks off and said, 'you can take these, don't worry about me — I live close by and can walk.'

Singh said sitting in his seat, he saw a man sitting alone on the bus with two plastic hairnets covering his feet instead of shoes.

Another passenger, a bearded Muslim man, noticed his footwear, promptly taking off his shoes and socks and giving them to the stranger, hopping off the bus barefoot.

"People usually don't care or even look at other people on the bus, they didn't even want to sit beside this guy because of how he was dressed,” Singh Virk added.

Singh Virk said the recipient was “shocked” by the gift and afterwards remarked, “What a nice guy… Did that really happen?”

When contacted by the agency, the Muslim man did not wish to be identified, saying that in his Islamic faith charitable deeds are preferred to be kept anonymous.

He was also reluctant to have his photograph published.

“I felt bad for the guy,” the 27-year-old Surrey resident said.

“He was wearing plastic hairnets on his feet. I was only about a two-minute walk from home, so I thought I could give him my shoes.”

“Whenever we do a good deed, even if it's to help someone out, the Islamic teachings maintain this should remain only for the pleasure of God,” the masjid spokesman Mufti Aasim Rashid said, adding that the man’s act would qualify as sadaqa, a general act of charity.

“It's nice to see people practicing the teachings … it looks like he's really benefited.”

The selfless act of the Muslim man has elicited incredible response online.

"We are all one family, if anyone in our family was without shoes and we had ample, this is exactly what we would do. Once in a while we need this reminder to save our humanity," said Facebook user Baljit Sabharwal, Huffington Post reported.

"Mercy and love are the foundations of all faiths. I don't know a faith that does not teach generosity. In fact, it's a foundation of Islam – a pillar of faith," added another Facebook user, Salim Jiwa.

Muslims make around 1.9 percent of Canada's 32.8 million population, and Islam is the number one non-Christian faith in the North American country.

(Twitter: @Faizie143)