The Robotic Dog Qiṭmīr brought the faulty fuel cell container for repair to the Traveler. It's was the 11th such cell, brought for inspection and checking. The traveler had checked the initial batch with his Geiger counter (1), however had found no issue so far, so he became a bit careless and left it on his side, while drinking Arabic Qahwa, his favourite drink, which he had bought from Madina during his last visit. A wonderful drink, which he has taken on board in anticipation of a long journey.
Drinking Arabic Qahwa, he requested for room view to be changed again, this time it was the view of Green Dome of Masjid E Nabvi. He was watching it from his single story hotel room. Later improvements of the Haram Area had demolished all the tall buildings within view of Masjid. Only single story houses and hotels with multiple underground stories were allowed, out of respect (2). He watched the pigeons circling but never settling on the Green Dome. Even the Pigeons knew their bounds here. He smiled looking and saw date palm trees restored in patches around the mosque, once made a concrete jungle.
The sky was dark blue. With hardly a trace of clouds. Normal weather throughout the year in Madina, but not very hot. He smiled and started his under the breath recitation of Darood and Salam to his beloved Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him).
Qiṭmīr entered with another batch of nuclear fuel cells. The Geiger counter suddenly went off in alarming intensity. The Traveller jumped out of his skin, and rushed for his space suit. Wania came online and on her split second instructions, Qiṭmīrr held the faulty cell in its robots hand and rushed outside.
The damage was already done. He could feel it instinctively.
How stupid of him to forego protocol. It was the ultimate mortal sin in space to handle radioactive material carelessly. That too on a crashed ship.
His forehead was covered in sweat, pure survival instinct.
Wania tried to calm him, "Your heart rate is very fast, please calm down"
"Well, it's one thing to die, and another to die horribly, by radiation burns"
On later thought, he smiled and said, "Maybe God wants to forgive my sins, so that such calamity has befallen, this way, my suffering will erase my sins, and at the end I can meet my creator with a clean slate".
"You have justification for every problem, are you ever unhappy?", She was worried for his health.
"Remember child, out physical hardships are never long lasting, they will eventually end in this life, however the everlasting life is of much more concern to us. I cannot take the risk to do something which may Creator does not like, that will be forever"
"A real Mortal Sin" , mused Wania. "You are referring to the major Sins including Shirk, abandoning all the major rituals, and so on"
"In my humble view, the real Mortal Sin is to loose hope in His Ultimate Mercy. Remember , he forgives all, you just have to ask, apologize and repent once. If it concerns Him alone, your apology is guaranteed to be accepted. However if a person or any of his creation is involved, then the matter is more difficult"
" Why it is so?" , asked her.
"Because, He loved all of his creation equally, including the Animals, so the wrong doing against his Creation is not absolved, till the time it is not forgiven by the wronged party"
"But what about the sinner himself?, How he can be saved ?"
"A repentant sinner has a higher standing in the eyes of God than a pious but proud one. People with a load of good deeds but arrogance will surely befall his grace, just as a sinner with tears in his eyes and a heart under the load of a mountain is surely to pass the ultimate test on the day of judgement"
"Why?" She was amazed.
"Humility, my Child. God loves humility. The sinner demeans himself thinking of himself worth nothing, while the pious but proud person thinks his goods deeds will surely save him"
"So one should not do any good deeds then" she asked wonder stuck.
Despite feeling nausea due to radiation sickness , he laughed, "No my Child, you are missing the point here. Don't be boastful of your good deeds, and never be distressed beyond hope of your sins. He is All merciful, and ultimate sign of his mercy is the presence of Prophet (Peace and Blessing of Allah be Upon Him) among us. Remember what i said earlier, the ultimate Mortal Sin is loosing hope in His Mercy."
His vision became blurry, but he kept on looking at the Green Dome, his last hope on the Judgement Day.
He was peaceful, knowing that the end had come, and nothing could be done. The radiation dose reading on Geiger counter was too high. He continued his Darood o Salam under his breath.
The last thing he remembered were both Munker and Nakeer, the Boston dynamic robots entering the room with water jets to wash his body.
He lost consciousness.
References170Please respect copyright.PENANApeL9Yx0XAM
(1) A Geiger counter is an instrument used for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation. Also known as a Geiger–Muller counter (or Geiger–Müller counter), it is widely used in applications such as radiation dosimetry, radiological protection, experimental physics, and the nuclear industry.170Please respect copyright.PENANAn9dQCCVEY1
(2) This future vision is of course pure conjecture on author's part, based on certain events in life of Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him). How the author envisions the area surrounding Haram-e-Pak should have been planned, a wishful fantasy born out of love and respect. May Allah forgive any misdeed, intention is of utmost respect. Rest Allah and His Beloved Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him) know better. 170Please respect copyright.PENANAGFfWj4hvzs
170Please respect copyright.PENANAzfVIDn6JSI