A Very Powerful Story

He remembered his grandmother's warning about praying on time: "My
son, you shouldn't leave prayer to this late time". His grandmother's age
was 70 but whenever she heard the Adhan, she got up like an arrow and
performed Salah.He, however could never win over his ego to get up and
pray. Whatever he did, his Salah was always the last to be offered and he
prayed it quickly to get it in on time.

Thinking of this, he got up and realized that there were only 15
minutes left before Salat-ul Isha. He quickly made Wudhu and performed
Salat-ul Maghrib. While making Tasbih, he
again remembered his grandmother and was embarrassed by how he had
prayed.His grandmother prayed with such tranquility and peace.

He began making Dua and went down to make Sajdah and stayed like
that for a while. He had been at school all day and was tired, so tired.

He awoke abruptly to the sound of noise and shouting. He was
sweating profusely. He looked around. It was very crowded. Every
direction he looked in was filled with people. Some stood frozen looking
around, some were running left and right and
some were on their knees with their heads in their hands just
waiting.

Pure fear and apprehension filled him as he realized where he was.
His heart was about to burst. It was the Day of Judgement. When he was
alive, he had heard many things about the questioning on the Day of
Judgement,but that seemed so long ago. Could this be something his mind
made up? No,the wait and the fear were so great that he could not have
imagined this.

The interrogation was still going on. He began moving frantically
from people to people to ask if his name had been called. No one could
answer him. All of a sudden his name was called and the crowd split into
two and made a passageway for him.

Two angels grabbed his arms and led him forward. He walked with
unknowing eyes through the crowd. The angels brought him to the center and
left him there. His head was bent down and his whole life was passing in
front of his eyes like a movie. He opened his eyes but saw only another
world.

The people were all helping others. He saw his father running
from one lecture to the other, spending his wealth in the way of Islam.
His mother invited guests to their house and one table was being set while
the other was being cleared. He pleaded his case, "I too was always on
this path.I helped others. I spread the word of Allah. I performed my
Salah. I fasted in the month of Ramadan. Whatever Allah ordered us to do,
I did. Whatever he ordered us not to do, I did not." He began to cry and
think about how much he loved Allah.

He knew that whatever he had done in life would be less than what Allah
deserved and his only protector was Allah.

He was sweating like never before and
was shaking all over. His eyes were fixed on the scale, waiting for
the final decision. At last, the decision was made. The two angels with
sheets of paper in their hands, turned to the crowd. His legs felt like
they were going to collapse. He closed his eyes as they began to read the
names of those people who were to enter Jahannam.

His name was read first.

He fell on his knees and yelled that this couldn't be, "How could I
go to Jahannam? I served others all my life, I spread the word of Allah to
others". His eyes had become blurry and he was shaking with sweat.The two
angels took him by the arms. As his feet dragged, they went through the
crowd and advanced toward the blazing flames of Jahannam.

He was yelling and wondered if there was any person who was going
to help him. He was yelling of all the good deeds he had done, how he had
helped his father, his fasts, prayers, the Qur'an that he read, he was
asking if none of them would help him. The Jahannam angels continued to
drag him.

They had gotten closer to the Hellfire. He looked back and these
were his last pleas. Had not Rasulullah [saw] said, "How clean would a
person be who bathes in a river five times a day, so too does the Salah
performed five times cleanse someone of their sins"?

He began yelling, "My prayers? my prayers? my prayers." The two
angels did not stop, and they came to the edge of the abyss of Jahannam.
The
flames of the fire were burning his face. He looked back one last time,
but his eyes were dry of hope
and he had nothing left in him.

One of the angels pushed him in. He found
himself in the air and falling towards the flames. He had just
fallen five or six feet when a hand grabbed him by the arm and pulled him
back.

He lifted his head and saw an old man with a long white beard. He wiped some dust off himself and asked him, "Who are you?" The old man replied, "I am your prayers". "Why are you so late! I was almost in the Fire! You rescued me at the last minute before I fell in".

The old man smiled and shook his head, "You always performed me at the last minute, did you forget?"

At that instant, he blinked and lifted his head from Sajdah. He was in a sweat. He listened to the voices coming from outside. He heard the adhan for Salat-ul Isha. He got up quickly and went to perform Wudhu.