Third Story
Once some meat from somewhere came to Hadrat Umme Salamah radiallahu anha. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam liked meat a lot. She therefore asked her maid to keep the meat on the shelf. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam will perhaps come and partake of it.
So she kept it on the shelf. Just then a beggar came, and while standing at the doorway, shouted: ” Give in the name of Allah, He will give you barakah!”
A reply from the house came: “May Allah also give you blessings!”
These words are used to show that there is nothing in the house which could be given. That beggar went away. Just then Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam arrived and asked: “O Umme Salamah! Do you have anything to eat?”
She replied: “Yes” and said to the maid: “Go and get that meat.”
She goes to bring the meat, but there’s no sign of that meat over there. Only a piece of white stone was kept there. Upon this Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam remarked that because she did not give it to the beggar, that piece of meat turned into a stone.
Lesson: Just think, that due to not giving in the name of Allah, this misfortune occurred that the form of the meat changed and turned into a stone. In the same way, the person who deceives the beggar and yet eats himself, is actually eating a stone. The result of this is that mercilessness and hard-heartedness increases. Since Allah Ta’ala has a lot of kindness and mercy on the family of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, He changed the form of the meat in front of their very eyes so that they may be saved from partaking of it.