He took a bath and wore a clean white shalwar qameez. Then he proceeded to comb his hair and beard and put on his cap. He looked at himself in the small mirror in the corner and grinned at himself. It was his ultimate meeting and he needed to look good. He was going to meet his Creator, his Cherisher and his Lord. How proud would God be of him. This thought made him grin even more and he silently whispered Alhumdulillah (thanks to God).
He pulled out a leather bag from under his bed and opened it up. Carefully, he lifted out a sleeveless jacket from inside and raised it up to look closely at it. The garment had 3 metal canisters tightly buckled on the front side with a maze of wires running between them. A couple of wires led to a black remote control on the left side. A red light glowed on the remote that indicated it was active. On the side of the remote a metal ring was attached which was held by strings coming out from the remote. As he ran his fingers on softly the ring, he recalled the instructions which had been given to him a hundred times: “Say the Kalimah (prayer) and pull the ring with all your force”.
With great care, he put the jacket on and tied its front laces. He looked at himself in the mirror again and felt the pride of a soldier going to war. He was going to be a martyr and he knew how much God loved them. As he gazed at himself, his eyes had showed no signs of fear. Fear had been expertly taken out of him and buried miles under. Instead, his eyes glowed with determination; with excitement and joy. He took one final look at himself and pulled on another heavy jacket and zipped it up completely.
As he stepped out of house, his cellphone rang.
“Assalamualikum (Peace be on you) my soldier. All ready to travel to heaven?” The voice on the phone said.
“Yes commander. Thanks to the Almighty, I am”. He replied in a bold, determined tone.
“Subhanallah (Praise be to God). The Lord is extremely proud of you”. The phone hung up with these words.
He took quick steps and walked on the planned route. Soon he reached the front side of the mosque and turned left to reach the side-gate from where he had been instructed to enter. The mosque, as he had been told, was run by muslims who had swayed from the true teachings of God and His prophet. They had developed their own concepts in the religion; things like freedom for women, no beard for men, friendships with non-muslims. The thought of this spurred anger inside him and he was determined to teach them a lesson and make God forever proud of him. With this, he entered inside and sat on his planned spot. He looked around and caught the signal from one of his colleagues who sat right at the corner.
The prayer started at the usual time and people stood up to align themselves in a congregation. He moved in the front row and stood right behind the person who was leading the prayer. As the prayer started, he glanced sideways and was utterly moved. Next to him, stood an eight-year old with his hands clasped on his chest. As he looked closely, the kid was deeply involved in the prayer. He could hear the young believer reciting the prayer in his soft voice. Suddenly he checked himself and his mission was back to his mind. However, the determination was all gone now. He felt weak and numb. Although he had shut his eyes, the face of the kid was still on his mind. He could still hear his prayer. The prayer was the same as his. He had noticed the worshipers and had felt no distinction between them and himself. Within seconds, he was overcome by a new force; a new energy inside him that made him realize how wrong and misled he was. Tears ran through his eyes and he earnestly prayed for forgiveness.
The prayer ended and the people started to walk out of the mosque. He hurriedly reached the front door and was about to step out when a car sped up to the gate. The window opened and three bullets were fired straight at him. They hit the jacket inside and blew him up. The whole place shook with the explosion, killing hundreds of people around.
