The Man who killed 99 People -Story from Hadeeth

One of the Hadeeth stories that has always fascinated me is this story of a Man who killed 99 People . Before I narrate to you this story from hadeeth of Rasul Allah swt ,I would like to mention that this is not only a real incident that happened long time ago, it is something that connects to each one of us even today. Sometime the guilt of one sin pushes us to do more Sins . Shaitan makes us think that our Sins are great and instead of seeking Allah’s forgiveness we should continue doing the sins  . Shaitan makes us lose hope in the mercy of Allah swt and increases us in disobedience. Should We lose hope in the Mercy of Allah swt ?Should we not stop the Wrongful acts that we are doing and try to mend our way ?

Let us read the Story of Man who killed 99 People and see what happened to him –

Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Prophet of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) said:

“There was a man from among a nation before you who killed ninety-nine people and then made an inquiry about the most learned person on the earth. He was directed to a monk. He came to him and told him that he had killed ninety-nine people and asked him if there was any chance for his repentance to be accepted. He replied in the negative and the man killed him also completing one hundred.

He then asked about the most learned man in the earth. He was directed to a scholar. He told him that he had killed one hundred people and asked him if there was any chance for his repentance to be accepted. He replied in the affirmative and asked, `Who stands between you and repentance? Go to such and such land; there (you will find) people devoted to prayer and worship of Allah, join them in worship, and do not come back to your land because it is an evil place.’

So he went away and hardly had he covered half the distance when death overtook him; and there was a dispute between the angels of mercy and the angels of torment. The angels of mercy pleaded, ‘This man has come with a repenting heart to Allah,’ and the angels of punishment argued, ‘He never did a virtuous deed in his life.’ Then there appeared another angel in the form of a human being and the contending angels agreed to make him arbiter between them. He said,`Measure the distance between the two lands. He will be considered belonging to the land to which he is nearer.’ They measured and found him closer to the land (land of piety) where he intended to go, and so the angels of mercy collected his soul”. [Al Bukhari and Muslim]

Lesson from the Hadeeth

It does not matter how great the sins of the servant of Allah is, the doors of tauba (repentance) is always open. As Allah says in the Holy Quran Say: “O ‘Ibâdî (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allâh, verily, Allâh forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. [Chapter 39 Verse 53] .

There are more stories on how Allah forgave his servants . Will you like to read more ? Have you heard of the  story of the teacher of Imam bukhari and Imam muslim who was an alcoholic .Allah guided him through a Single hadeeth and later he became a great Scholar.

Let us not let Shaitan Control our Life. Let us strive to do good and be good .