The Serial Killer Who Went to Heaven

There is a story in the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)--found in the collection of Imam Al-Bukhari--in which there was a serial killer. After murdering 99 people, he set out to ask if there was any forgiveness for him.

He was led to a monk who replied in the negative. The man then killed the monk to make his count 100. He was then led to a scholar who, replied "yes" but told the murderer that he must leave town and begin a new life elsewhere. On his way to the new town, he died. Two angels descended to claim him: one was an angel of mercy, and the other was an angel of punishment.

The angels got into an argument over where this man should end up. They took their dispute to God, who sent a third angel to mediate. The third angel decided that they should measure the distance between the two towns. If the man was closer to the old town, he would go to Hell; if the man was closer to the new town, he would go to Heaven. At this moment, God ordered the new town to move closer to the man, which it did. Then he ordered the old town to move farther away, which also obeyed.

The serial killer went to Heaven.

I have read and heard this story tons of times, and it meant the most to me this year on the plain of Arafat during the Hajj, where I was immersed in and surrounded by God's infinite mercy. Yet, no one has ever told the story of the killer; what was it that made him finally want to seek forgiveness?

I want to tell that story now.

No, I don't know him. He lived thousands of years ago. But I know his struggle. No, I have never killed anyone, but I have sinned, and the experience of sin is basically the same. Not all sins are alike, obviously, and thank God, the sins I have committed have never risen to the depravity of murder. Nevertheless, all sins do the same thing: they estrange the sinner from God.

That is the dilemma of the human condition. In the Qur'an, God says that He created humanity in "the best of moulds" (95:4). With that blessing comes the enormous test: free will to commit both good and evil. That serial killer exercised his free will to the worst degree: murdering 100 presumably innocent people. The estrangment of sin is a horrible condition, and no one can continue to be estranged from God forever. It makes you empty, lonely, melancholy, ashamed, embarrassed. It darkens the heart and soul, and the only thing that can fill the heart is God's light. And that is why, I believe, the serial killer sought God's forgiveness.

He was tired of being estranged from God. All of us, it is believed in Muslim tradition, were in the Divine Presence before we were placed on earth, and we all affirmed God's Lordship over us. Thus, each of us yearns to be with God and is attracted to His Light.

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