The story of the man who killed ninety-nine people

Question:
May Allah reward you. A listener sent this question, saying: What is the story of the man who killed ninety-nine people?

Answer:
The hadith of the man who was among those before us who had killed ninety-nine people and wanted to repent, but he did not know whether his repentance for his sin would be accepted. So he went to an ignorant worshipper and told him his situation, and he said to him, “There is no repentance for you.” The man became angry at him and killed him, completing the hundred. Then he went and asked a scholar, and the scholar said to him, “Yes, and who can stand between you and repentance? But you are in a bad land, so go out to such-and-such a land, for there are men in it who worship Allah, so worship Allah with them.” So the man left as a migrant from the bad town to the good town. While he was on the road, the Angel of Death took his soul. The angels of mercy and the angels of punishment disputed over him. The angels of punishment said, “He never did any good,” and the angels of mercy said, “He left as a repentant migrant.” So Allah sent an angel to his path, and he said, “Measure the distance between the two towns.” They found him to be a hand’s breadth closer to the good land, so the angels of mercy took him. Yes.