THE MAN THAT KILLED 99 PEOPLE

Adapted for children from an authentic Hadith of Prophet Muhammad
praise and peace be upon him A long time ago there was
a city full of very bad people. They stole from each other,
lied, cheated and killed. It was just the sort of city satan
loved! Now in that city lived a man who was probably the worst
person for miles and miles around. He thought nothing of
killing anyone that got in his way! Whenever the people saw
him coming they would run away. They left their stalls in the
market place and hid because they knew he had already killed
ninety-nine people and they didn't want to be next on his
hit list! One day the man started to think about what he had
done. He was lonely, no one wanted to be his friend and it
wasn't much fun being by himself. To be honest, he didn't
like himself either! He knew that what he had done was wrong
and wanted to start all over again -- but that was his secret.
Deep down in his heart he knew there was a God who had created
everything. He also remembered from his childhood days
hearing someone say -- probably one of those wise old men
that lived by themselves and prayed a lot up in the damp old
caves outside the city he thought -- that God, whose Name is
Allah, is Kind and Forgiving. He knew that the sins he had
committed over the years were not little ones, but now he felt
really sorry for doing them, but, the question he asked
himself was "Would Allah forgive him for killing all those people?"
He kept asking himself the same question over and over
again until he decided that there was no other way. He must
find one of those wise old men and ask him. Now satan became
very angry at the chance of loosing this man's soul, it
had been his for years and he was proud of the very good job
he had done on him. So, he whispered to him teasing him with
the thought -- what would the people of this great city think
of him if he changed. After all he was the terror of the
city and people would no longer look up to him anymore and
what was even worse they would make fun of him and call him
names! But the more the man thought about it, he didn't much
care what the people thought so, he asked where he could find
one of the wise old worshipers of Allah. Now, satan felt
so mad he jumped up and down with rage! Eventually, the man
found one of the worshipers of Allah. The old man invited him
in and gave him a nice cool drink of water. At first it was
difficult for the man who had killed ninety-nine people to
ask the old man the question that had been troubling him. So,
he sat down and sipped the water very slowly, and the worshiper
of Allah waited patiently and didn't say a word. At last
the killer told the old man that he had killed ninety-nine
people but that he was sorry for what he had done and wondered
whether Allah would forgive him. The old man looked at
him, scratched his head and shook it slowly and said "No."
Satan rubbed his hands together, he was so pleased -- and so
the old man became the killer's hundredth victim! Now, the
man thought he would try again, so he found another worshiper
of Allah, but this time the worshiper was wiser and more knowledgeable.
After the man had told him what he had done he
asked if there was a chance that Allah would accept his repentance.
The second worshiper said: "Yes, but first you must
really believe that there is no god except Allah." They talked
for a while and what the worshiper of Allah told him made
a lot of sense, so the killer told him that, yes, he really
did believe. The worshiper was delighted and told him: "Now
that you have believed, you must not stay in that wicked city
a moment longer. You must leave right away for the next
city where you will find good people worshiping Allah." The
man was very happy to hear this and set off straight away for
the city of good people. Satan stamped his feet in anger --
he was furious!! The man had only gone a few miles when suddenly
he died. Both the angels of Paradise and Hell came to
take away his soul. They didn't know what to do -- was he to
go to Hell or was he to go to Paradise? They discussed the
matter between them. The angels of Hell told the angels of
Paradise that because the man had never done a good deed in
all his life they thought they should take charge of his soul.
But, the angels of Paradise told the angels of Hell that
the man had repented and was in fact on his way to the city
where they worshiped Allah. The angels just could not decide
who should take him. Did he belong to the angels of Hell or
to the angels of Paradise? Just then, an angel who had taken
the appearance of a human arrived so the angels asked him
to decided for them. The new arrival thought for a minute, then,
he advised them to measure the distance between the man's
body and the two cities. He told them that if his body lay
nearer to the wicked city, then he belonged to the angels
of Hell. On the other hand, if he belonged to the angels of
Paradise, his body would be nearer to the city of good people.
The angels went about their business and measured the two
distances and found the man's body lay nearer to the city of
the good people by just the span of a hand! So, the angels
knew that the man had been forgiven, and so the angels of Paradise
took his soul gently away.THE END

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

1. We have learned that if we really want to be good, Allah will
help us. 2. We have learned that we must believe there is
no other god except Allah. This means that He has no sons
or daughters. He is the One and Only. 3. If we are really sorry
and ask Allah to forgive us He will. But, we have to try
not to do bad things again.
QUIZ TIME

1. What kind of city did the man live in? 2.  What did the first
worshiper of Allah say? 3. What did the second worshiper
of Allah say? 4. Which city did the man choose to live in?
5. What happened to him when he left the second worshiper of
Allah? 6. Name the two kinds of angels. 7. Which city was the
man nearer when he died? 8. Which angels took the soul of
the man? 9. Was satan angry or happy?
QUIZ TIME ANSWERS

1. A very wicked city. 2. No. 3. Yes, as long as you believe
that there is no god except Allah. 4. The city where the good
people lived. 5. He died. 6. The angels of Paradise and Hell.
7. The city of good people 8. The angels of Paradise. 9.
Very angry!SCORE

1 - 3 answers right? I think you tried hard but you could do
better. Why not read the story again, or, ask someone to read
it to you? 4 - 6 answers right? GOOD! 7 - 8 answers right?
VERY GOOD!! All 9 answers right? EXCELLENT!!! © 1993-2004 The
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