"A WELL KNOWN BEAUTIFUL STORY ABOUT REPENTANCE"

"A WELL KNOWN BEAUTIFUL STORY ABOUT REPENTANCE"

Among the people of old , there was a man who had murdered ninety-nine people. He then asked the people to guide him to the most knowledgeable person in the world. They told him to go see a certain monk. So the man went to the monk and told him that he had killed ninety-nine people. He then asked if it were possible for him to repent. The monk said “No,” so the man killed him as well, bringing the total to one hundred.

He again sought after the most knowledgeable person on Earth. He was directed to a scholar. told him that he had killed one hundred people and then asked if it were possible for him to repent.

The scholar replied: “Yes. What stands between you and repentance? You better go to such-and-such a land. There are people devoted to prayer and worship, and you should worship along with them. You should never return to your country, since it is an evil land for you.”

So he went off to find that land, and he had hardly covered half the distance when death overtook him. This brought on a dispute between the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment. The angels of mercy said: “This man has come penitent and remorseful to Allah.”

The angels of punishment said: “He has never done anything good at all.”.

Then another angel came in the form of a human being in order to decide between them. He said: “Measure the distance between where he fell and the land from which he departed, as well as the remaining distance to his destination. Find out which land he is nearest to. That is where he belongs. They measured both distances and found him to be nearer to his destination, so the angels of mercy took possession of him. [Sahīh al-Bukhārī (3470) and Sahīh Muslim (2766)]

He says: “O you who believe! Turn to Allah in sincere repentance in the hope that your Lord will remove from you your sins and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow on the Day that Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him.” [Sūrah al-Tahrīm: 8]

The Prophet said: “I seek Allah’s forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day.” [Sahīh al-Bukhārī (6307)]

This was the practice of Allah’s Messengers. How much more do the rest of us need to repent, we whose lives are full of shortcomings, neglect, and sin? Certainly we have a greater need to repent.

May Allah Forgive Our Sins Ya Rabb. Ameen.