CONCLUSION

The selected people of Paradise are the ones who have realized God while He is unseen, who adhere to the social and moral ethics set by God and are giver members of society.

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.

Who will be eligible for entry into God’s Paradise? 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.

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)