Islamic Stories: For Muslims and non-Muslims.

An Easy Way To Change Ourselves

There was a king a long time ago and he had a vast kingdom. Though he had a tremendous amount of wealth,  he didn't have peace of heart. So he decided to be a good Muslim.

He heard that there was a very pious man who stayed in a jungle and many people went to visit him for advice. The king decided to visit him for some advice.

When he got there, he asked the pious man, "How can I become pious like you?"

The pious man replied that remembered death 40 times a day for 40 days. The king thought that it was very easy and he thanked him and left for his palace. He remembered death 40 times a day for 40 days but no change came to his life. He was the same as before.

The king became angry and called that pious man to his court. The king told him that he was nothing but a liar and that he should be killed before he fooled other people. It was decided that he will be beheaded the next day.

But the Pious man had a request. He asked if he could become the king for a day. He promised that after getting the command, he would not kill the previous king or do any harm to him. So, the king agreed and made the pious man the king for a day.

As soon as the pious man became the king, he went to the market and saw a man selling peanuts. He told the soldiers to catch that man and bring him to the palace. So, the peanut sales man was brought to the court.

The pious man told the peanut salesman that he would be killed tomorrow. The peanut salesman became frightened and dropped all his peanuts. He started crying and asked what he did. But the pious man said that he would be killed tomorrow and locked up in jail for today.

Now, as the peanut salesman knew that he was going to die, he forgot about everything else and started asking forgiveness from Allah. He started praying and doing excessive dhikir (remembrance of Allah).

The Pious man ordered that the most beautiful prostitute in the city should be brought and placed in jail with the peanut salesman. She was brought and she asked the man to commit adultery with her. Now the pious man brought the previous king and told him to watch. The peanut salesman started yelling at the woman to get away because he was going to die tomorrow and this evil deed would surely cause him problems with Allah.

Then the pious man asked the previous king if he understood what was going on. The Pious man explained that when you know that you will die, then you will surely stay away from all evil deeds and engage yourself in the worship of Allah. So, remembering death once properly would be enough to change the life of a human being.

Of course, the peanut salesman was released afterward.