ELIGIBILITY FOR PARADISE
Paradise is for one who attains the realization of their Creator at the level of maarifah while God is unseen and who bows down before God while possessing the freedom to disobey Him.
Paradise is a blessing without limits, attainable only by paying a high price. Only a few fortunate souls will be declared eligible to reside in the world of Paradise.
The first test for admission into Paradise is that one must realize their Creator. They should discover the Truth amidst a jungle of thoughts, views, beliefs, and ideologies. They should develop the insight to perceive what is not visible to the physical eye and feel what cannot be comprehended at the physical level. Passing by the tumult of the external world, they should become a traveller of the inner world.
Another condition for admission to Paradise is that one must bow down before God while retaining the freedom to disobey. Ignoring all temptations to become self-centred, they must become completely God-centered, genuinely devoted to God and God alone. Turning away from innumerable sources of glitter and attraction, they must devote their full attention to God.
Admission to Paradise will only be possible for the person who, amid adverse conditions, always remains rooted in positive thinking. This person overcomes jealousy, pride, revenge, and other negative emotions. Unilaterally, they become the epitome of compassion, seeking the well-being of others. Even though they might have the power to oppress or commit injustice, they never do so. In every condition and circumstance, they bind themselves to justice.
Paradise is a beautiful divine colony, and only those souls who have subjected themselves to the process of purification in this world will be admitted.
The present world is a place of tests, where every person becomes polluted in some way or another. Therefore, everyone should engage in a continuous process of self-purification until their polluted personality is transformed into a purified one.
A person of Paradise lives like a flower amidst thorns, becoming a tower of light amidst darkness, discovering the secret of peace amidst earthquakes and storms, offering love amidst hatred, unilaterally forgiving others despite oppression, and finding gain even in loss.
A person of Paradise is one who has drawn close to God, who sees the light of God in the rays of the sun, experiences the divine touch in the gushing wind, gains an understanding of God’s greatness in the heights of the mountains, witnesses God’s mercy in the flow of rivers, and sees the glowing radiance of the Creator in the mirror of creation.
God, through His prophets, has explained the attributes of a person fit for Paradise. Therefore, while living in this world, one who cultivates paradisiacal attributes will, after death, be declared eligible for entry into Paradise.
Entry into Paradise will not occur through any recommendation, connection to a revered personality, or through mysterious spiritual solutions. Instead, admission into Paradise is entirely based on a known reality—that the person who, in the present world, becomes and lives like a paradisiacal person will be granted admission into Paradise in the Hereafter.
Paradise is for those who have purified themselves. Purification means abandoning a life of heedlessness and adopting a life of awareness. One must be strong enough to overcome desires that hinder the achievement of this goal. They must save themselves from anything that can deviate them from the Truth. If faced with a matter of expediency, they should ignore it. If pride or resentment arises, they should bury it within themselves.
Who Are the People of Paradise?
The people of Paradise are those who discover the Higher Being, that is, God, and who are able to turn their natural potential to good account. They awaken their spirituality to such a high degree that they can experience the realization of the Hereafter in the present world itself. While living in this world, they become inhabitants of the world of Paradise on the conscious plane. Physically, they are in this world, but psychologically, they are in the Hereafter.
When this paradisiacal personality develops in human beings, the present world becomes meaningless in their eyes. Their intellectual plane reaches such heights that material things lose all significance. They find no fulfilment in the material aspects of the world. The world of Paradise is so perfect that the riches of this world pale in comparison. With their heightened consciousness, they realize that the present world is not the place they were created for. Their hearts cry out to God: “O God! Bestow upon us the Paradise of the Hereafter. Give us a place in the world of Your neighbourhood.”
The present world is just an introduction to Paradise. It is not Paradise itself. The present world is a passageway, not the destination. It is a place for preparation, not for reaping the harvest. The present world is full of limitations. It does not have the means to fulfil the unlimited desires of man. It provides for subsistence at the animal level but lacks the spiritual requirements for the higher level of man.
In the world of the Hereafter, all evil people will be separated from the good. Only the good will be given a place in the dwellings of Paradise. Furthermore, all worldly afflictions such as death, disease, accidents, and mental states like tension and boredom will be eradicated forever.
In that world, all the sources of comfort and pleasure will be gathered in their ultimate form. How thrilling it will be to live in that world! Therefore, every man and woman must strive to make Paradise their destination. They should devote themselves to preparing for this world of tomorrow.
