The Angels of the Hundred-Souls Story

The angels of the story of the hundred souls are the two angels who disputed over the soul of a man who killed ninety-nine souls then repented, in Sahih al-Bukhari ¹. One of them is of the angels of mercy and the other of the angels of punishment, so they disputed until revelation descended to the Prophet concerning him ^{1 2}.

• In Sahih al-Bukhari from Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him) that a man killed ninety-nine people then went out asking; he came to a monk and asked whether there was repentance, and he said no, so he killed him; he kept asking and a man told him: go to such-and-such a village ¹.
• "And death overtook him while he was heading toward it, and the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment disputed over him" — in it that the angels of mercy say he repented and was told of the village, and the angels of punishment say he killed ninety-nine souls ¹.
• "Until God revealed concerning them a verse... God said: measure what is between them" — in it that God commanded the weighing of what is between them ¹.
• "So He placed this one on one side and that one on the other" — in it that God placed his follower on one side and his killer on the other ¹.
• In a narration of Muslim the man repented and was commanded to the village, and God forgave him ³.

Ibn Kathir details the story, mentioning that the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment disputed over the man, and that God commanded the weighing between them ². Al-Qurtubi holds that the dispute among the angels concerns the repentant ⁴.

• "Al-munfarij" in the language is from "farraja", meaning to widen and relieve; in the hadith the angels disputed over the man until God relieved between them by the weighing ⁴.
• The name is a technical term for the story, and the Qur'an does not name them ¹.

• One of them is of the angels of mercy and the other of the angels of punishment, in al-Bukhari's narration ¹.
• They disputed over the soul until revelation descended to the Prophet concerning him ¹.
• In a narration of Muslim that God commanded the weighing of what is between them ³.

• "Angels of the story of the hundred souls" is a technical name; the hadith is in Sahih al-Bukhari ¹.
• In it is evidence that repentance is accepted even after ninety-nine souls, and that God relieves between His angels with justice ².
• Their companion in this topic is the angels on its page.