O Evil Shaykh (old man)

Abu Bakr as-Saidalaani reported that he heard Salim Ibn Mansur Ibn ‛Ammar say,

"Upon seeing my father in a dream, I asked him, 'What did your Lord do with you?'

He answered, 'Indeed, my Lord drew me near and close and he said to me: 'O evil Shaykh (old man), Do you know why I forgave you?'

I said, 'No, O my Lord.'

He said, 'You sat before people in a gathering one day and you made them cry. Among them was one of my slaves who had never before cried from fear of me and so I forgave him and forgave everyone in the gathering for him; and you were among the ones I donated to him (among the ones that I forgave for him)."

Moral

This story teaches us that a single good deed that we do for the sake of Allah may change what happens to us in regards to our Judgement. This is like the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) in which he said: “Once there was a dog moving around a well, suffering from thirst so bad he was nearly dying. Then, a prostitute from among the Children of Israel happened to see him, so she drew water in her shoe and made him drink. Allah forgave her because of this.” Source: Sahih Muslim 2245