What is Paradise? Paradise is another name for living eternally in the neighbourhood of God (66:11). In the world before death man lives in the neighbourhood of God at the level of mind and feeling. After death, his living in the world of God will be a reality.
God, without a doubt, is the source of all virtues. That is why man can find true peace only in the neighbourhood of God. Anything short of that cannot become a source of real peace for him.
The present world, in actual fact, is a selection ground for the right kind of people. Here those people are being selected who with respect to their virtues or character are worthy of being lodged in the neighbourhood of God. Their thinking, activities, feelings, behaviour and dealings must all pass the ethical criterion which is required to become God’s neighbour. It is only people such as these who will be selected for this honour. This selection will be based on the records kept by the angels of man’s deeds.
The good fortune of finding a place in God’s neighbourhood in the eternal life of the Hereafter will be based totally on merit. God’s neighbourhood is like a universal garden. In this universal garden, only those will find a place who measure up to the divine criterion. Anything short of this will not be sufficient to guarantee a place in this universal garden.
Those selected for Paradise are the ones who have made God their supreme concern in the life of this world. Their thinking and feelings have all been devoted to God. Their mornings as well as their evenings have been filled with the remembrance of God. These are the fortunate souls who will be selected to live in the neighbourhood of God.
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Everything has a price, and the price of Paradise is the realization of God. Nothing less than that can open the gates of Paradise. The truth is that if anything less than the realization of God is regarded as the price of Paradise that would constitute the belittling of Paradise. Those selected for Paradise are the ones who have made God their foremost concern in the life of this world. Their thinking and feelings have all been devoted to God. Their mornings and evenings have been filled with the remembrance of God. These are the fortunate souls who will be selected to live in the neighbourhood of God for all eternity.
God's angels will welcome those men and women who reach the Hereafter with all the above qualities. The angels will come forward and say: "Congratulations, O Blessed Souls! Enter God's Heaven by divine decree. Here, there is no death and no parting from this joyous world. The eternal life has been given to you for all eternity." The Quran says: “O Soul at peace! Come to your Lord well pleased, and He will be well pleased with you. So enter among My chosen servants. And enter My Garden.” (The Quran, 89:27-30)
Source: God’s Creation Plan
God will allow only those people to live in His neighbourhood who adhere to divine ethics at two levels: one stands in relation to man versus man, and another stands in relation to man versus God. These two codes of ethics are different in their dimensions. In relation to other human beings, one must follow social ethics like love, respect, well-wishing, and peace. Adherence to such social ethics makes one a giver member of society.
But no one can be held deserving of entry into Paradise just by adhering to social ethics. To be deserving of entry into the neighbourhood of God, man has to live up to the divine code related to God. This begins with the realization of God. When an individual discovers his Creator, this transforms his mind. His divine nature is awakened, and, as a result, all those qualities have been produced that measure up to the standard of elevated human ethics.
Source: God’s Creation Plan
One of the essential teachings of Islam is that on receiving anything, we should be grateful to God in acknowledgement of His bounty and utter these words 'All praise and thankfulness is due to God, the Lord of the Worlds.' Praise of God, in its true spirit, is the essence of the Quran. After accepting Islam, a believer's inmost feelings find expression in these words of praise.
Man's existence is a blessing from God. Man's extremely balanced body is a blessing from God. The entire world created so favourably for man is a blessing from God.
When this reality dawns on man, and he realizes God's immeasurable blessings upon him, his soul is filled with gratefulness to God. His greatness overawes his heart and mind. At that moment, words of acknowledgement of God—'Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds' spontaneously come to his lips.
God is All-Powerful. God is the Giver; man is the taker. The only thing man can offer Him is acknowledge His blessings. The moment of man's greatest worship of God is when God's glory and greatness pervade his soul; when he recognizes God's divinity as compared to man's servitude; when, in full awareness of his helplessness, he comes to acknowledge God's bounties in the true sense of the word.
When man discovers God with all His attributes, his soul lies prostrate before Him. His whole being turns towards God. The feelings inspired in him by God's bounties surge within him like ocean waves. When all these feelings find verbal form, they are called praise and gratefulness to God.
God is the greatest Being, yet in the universe, God remains invisible. But His supreme glory is visible in His creation. Therefore, the realisation of God can be attained through discovering His greatness in the signs visible everywhere. This realisation finds expression in words such as 'praise be to God—Lord of the worlds’.
One who lives in the glory of God in this world will be eligible for living in Paradise where he will live in the eternal glory of God.
Source: God’s Creation Plan
Paradise is another name for eternal life in the neighbourhood of God (66:11). Paradise is the eternal ideal world, which is the ultimate objective of every human. Paradise is called the 'Home of Peace' (10: 25). We learn from the Quran that the people of Paradise will wish peace for one another, which indicates the importance of peace in the ideal society. In the world before death, those who live in the neighbourhood of God at the psychological level and feeling will, in the world Hereafter, live in the eternal neighbourhood of God—Paradise—in reality.
The good fortune of finding a place in God's neighbourhood in the eternal life of the Hereafter will be based totally on merit. God's neighbourhood is like a universal garden. Only those will find a place in this universal garden that measure up to the divine criterion. Anything short of this will not guarantee a place in this universal garden.
Source: God’s Creation Plan
