The Maker of this world has made a pair to this world. One member of this pair is the world where we live after birth—the planet Earth. The other pair is the world where we go after death. These two worlds form a pair. In this way, man's life has two parts: the pre-death and post-death periods. Man's Creator blessed him with life, dividing it into the pre-death and post-death phases.

The world before death has been made as a testing ground, and the world after death has been made for receiving reward or punishment. Because the present world is designed for the purpose of test, everyone has been given freedom here. Here, everything has defects and limitations. It is as if this present world is a sort of examination hall. Here, all those 'things' needed to 'write' the 'examination' are available, but the higher 'things' are absent. If a student wants to build an ideal world in the examination hall, he will surely face only despair and frustration. Similarly, those who seek to build a perfect world in this limited and temporary world of test will face sorrow and disappointment.

While we are in this examination hall—this life of ours on planet Earth—what must each person do to obtain the perfect world they desire after death? The answer to this question is that we must use our freedom according to the Creator's Will.

For life after death, God has made a perfect world, Paradise. This Paradise is, in every sense, an ideal world. God will lodge such people as prove themselves to be eligible to be settled there. In the present world, those who qualify themselves according to divine standards will be settled in the ideal world of Paradise.

Now, who are those people who will qualify for Paradise? These are the ones who, using their intellectual capacities, attain the realization of God. Coming out of intellectual confusion, they discover the truth. They devote themselves to God alone and worship none but Him. Despite possessing freedom, they let themselves willingly be regulated by divine discipline. Faced with adverse conditions, they build in themselves a positive personality. They deal with others in the same ethical way they want others to deal with them.

All these qualities are the criteria set according to God's creation plan for an individual to be eligible for being settled in eternal Paradise after death.

Source: God’s Creation Plan

The present world has been created as a testing ground for man as man is engaged in a continuous test here. If he passes this test, he will obtain a place in the ideal world, Paradise, in eternal life after death. On the other hand, if he fails this test, he will live in a state of eternal deprivation. To be eligible to enter Paradise, there are two things that man needs to do while on Earth. One is to acknowledge the truth, and the other is to lead a principled life.

In the present world, man finds himself completely free. However, this freedom is not given to him as a right. Instead, it is simply a sort of examination paper for everyone. Man has to acknowledge the truth without any pressure. Without any compulsion, he must bow before the truth. Man has been given freedom of choice to test him. Through his own choice, he should limit or control his freedom. Bowing before the truth is undoubtedly the most enormous sacrifice for man. Acknowledging the truth may appear to be making oneself small compared to others, but this makes a person arrive at the highest position, leading him to reach the door of Paradise.

In this regard, the second thing man must do is lead a principled life. Generally, a person’s character is constructed according to his emotions. Anger, revenge, jealousy, hate, opportunism, etc.—are negative feelings that often indelibly shape a person’s character. Any man cannot enter Paradise with a character developed by such emotions. To enter Paradise, he needs to be a person of virtuous character. For this, man should not build his character under external factors; instead, he must build it by adhering to certain moral principles. Only people of honest character can be held eligible to enter and live in Paradise in the life after death. This is the creation plan under which man has been created.

Paradise is that ideal world where man can find perfect peace and satisfaction and be in the company of those who make his life truly meaningful. The desire for this Paradise is enshrined in every person’s heart. It is this Paradise where man will find complete fulfillment. With his whole being, man is in search of this very Paradise. Moreover, Paradise is waiting with its entire existence for such people. The time is coming when Paradise and man shall meet each other. Each will find the pair made for them.

Source: God’s Creation Plan

The Creator of man has created him according to a particular Plan. His intention is that man must spend a period of trial in this present, imperfect world, and after this, according to his deeds, he will earn the right to inhabit the perfect and eternal world, another name for which is Paradise.

The Creator of the world has created this world as one half of a pair—the present limited world, in which we pass our lives after birth, is the first half; and the next eternal world where we live after death is the other half. The Creator of man has thus created him as an eternal creature and has divided his life into two stages—the pre-death period, the limited life in this world, and the post-death period or the eternal life after death. The limited period before death is meant to be a test for man, while the eternal period after his death will be the period for his reward or punishment, based on his performance in the test in this life. This is the scheme of existence for this world devised by its Creator. The fundamental aim of creation is to select those who are fit to inhabit the world of Paradise. Evil people will not be selected to inhabit Paradise.

Source: God’s Creation Plan

It often happens in this world that man loses something, or suffers some calamity. On such occasions, Islam teaches us to willingly resign ourselves to our misfortune, taking that to be God’s decree. On all such occasions, the sufferer should utter the words: ‘We belong to God and we shall return to Him.’

God has made this world for the purpose of putting mankind to the test. Here, receiving and losing are both designed as a trial for man. Therefore, when man receives something, he should prove himself to be a thankful servant of God. And when he loses something, he should adopt the attitude of patience. Only one who can do so will pass God’s test.

In this world, man cannot save himself from experiencing unpleasant things. Sometimes he will suffer from the pangs of hunger and thirst, at others, a life very dear to him will pass away or he will incur a loss of wealth. On all such occasions, these words must come to his lips...‘We belong to God and we shall all return to Him.’

Through these words man acknowledges his status of servitude vis à vis God’s all-powerfulness. He expresses himself in words such as these: O God, You are the giver. If You have taken something out of what You have given me, You had the right to do so.

Saying Inna Lillah is a form of worship. This is to adopt the attitude of surrendering to God’s will instead of complaining against fate. It is to convert the loss into a new discovery.

This phrase, ‘We belong to God and to Him we shall return,’ (The Quran, 2:156) is, in short, an acknowledgment of God’s godhead on the part of His servants.

Source: God’s Creation Plan