Paradise and Man

Faith means man consciously discovers his Lord, the Creator through His creation. Gratefulness means acknowledgement of God’s blessing. Whatever man has in this world is all God’s blessing. To deserve Paradise one has to acknowledge the Giver from his heart.

Paradise and man are each other’s counter-parts. They are complementary to one another. Paradise is made for man, and man is made for Paradise. The truth is that Paradise is the sought after by man and man is sought after by Paradise. Man is incomplete without Paradise and Paradise is incomplete without man. It is part of the creation plan that human beings should be trained in this world in such a way that they may be held deserving of being lodged in the eternal world of Paradise.

In chapter 4 of the Quran the following verse has this to say: “Why should God punish you, if you render thanks to Him and believe in Him? God is appreciative and aware.” (4:147)

This means that it is not God’s creation plan that people should indulge in evil acts and make themselves deserving of Hell. According to God’s creation plan, man must make himself deserving of Paradise so that when he reaches the world of the Hereafter, he may be settled in the Garden of Paradise.

The commentator Abul Barkaat Al Nasafi, (d. in 1310) explains the above verse, thus “One who has attained God realization is the recipient of blessings, and gratitude is another name for the acknowledgement of these blessings.” (Tafsir An-Nasafi, Vol. 1, p. 409)

The truth is that both faith and gratefulness are interlinked. Faith means that man consciously discovers his Lord: he is introduced to the Creator through His creation. Gratefulness means acknowledgement of God’s blessing. Whatever man has in this world is all God’s blessing. For these blessings one has to acknowledge the Giver from his heart and without doubt this is the greatest form of worship for man.