There was once a woman who had a son. One day, her son left home (on a journey) and apparently disappeared, as there was no information at all regarding him or his whereabouts. The woman was extremely anxious regarding the plight of her missing son and would thus exert herself in du‘aa, begging Allah Ta‘ala to return her son to her.
One day, as she sat down to her meal and was on the verge of placing a morsel of food into her mouth, she heard a beggar at the door. Taking pity on him, she gave him the entire loaf of bread from which she had been eating, including the morsel that she had been on the verge of consuming. Having given all of her food to the beggar, she had nothing left to eat and thus remained hungry.
Barely a few nights had passed after she had given the bread to the beggar when her son returned home! He then narrated to her all the hardships and difficulties that he had experienced while on his journey.
While recounting his experiences to his mother, he mentioned the following incident:
The strangest experience of all occurred as I was travelling through a certain jungle in such-and-such a land. While I was riding my donkey, a lion attacked me. My donkey fled and I was left to face the lion all alone. It attacked me with its claws which became entangled in my clothing and thus failed to wound my body. It then dragged me deeper into the jungle where it set me down, ready to pounce and kill me.
At that instant, a huge, strong man, fair in complexion and dressed in white clothing, appeared before us. He lifted the lion by gripping its nape with his bare hands, and threw it to the ground saying, “Away, O dog! A morsel for a morsel!” The lion instantly turned on its heels and fled.
As I regained my composure and calmed down, I turned to search for the man who had saved me, but found that he had disappeared! I remained sitting, trying to regain my strength and gather myself. I thereafter examined my body and found that I was absolutely unharmed!
I then walked through the jungle until I found the caravan from which I had been separated. On seeing me safe and sound, they were utterly amazed as none had expected me to escape from the clutches of the lion. Nevertheless, after narrating my experience to them, I continued to ponder over the words uttered by the man, “a morsel for a morsel.” What could these words possibly mean?
As the youngster related his amazing experience to his mother, she asked him the time at which this had happened. When he calculated the time, she realized that it was at that exact moment that she had taken the morsel of food which was nearly in her mouth and had given it to the beggar, together with the rest of her food.
It is thus apparent that on account of her taking the morsel away from her mouth and giving it to the beggar, Allah Ta‘ala took her son from the lion’s mouth and gave him back to her.
(Nishwaarul Muhaadharah – At-Tannookhi vol. 2, pg. 42)
Lessons:
1. Sadaqah and charity are such great acts that their reward is multiplied seven hundred times. Over and above this tremendous reward, there are many other profound benefits and effects that a person will enjoy through giving sadaqah. Sadaqah is a means of drawing the mercy of Allah Ta‘ala and warding off calamities. Hence, in the above incident, it was just a few days after she gave her meal to the beggar that her son returned.
2. When giving sadaqah, it is not the amount nor the value of the item that is important. Rather, what counts is the heart with which it was given. The woman in the above incident only gave the beggar a loaf of bread. However, she preferred his comfort to her own, choosing to remain hungry, and even gave him the morsel that was nearly in her mouth. It was thus the extent of her sincerity and sacrifice that gave value to her sadaqah and resulted in it being accepted in the court of Allah Ta‘ala.
3. Allah Ta‘ala sometimes very clearly and openly shows a person the acceptance and reward of their good deeds in this very world.