THE BUILDING OF
A PARADISIACAL PERSONALITY

Man is born with great potential. He must turn this potential into actuality on his own. By facing life’s difficult situations as challenges, man reaches high levels of progress and develops a purified personality. This process makes him deserving of Paradise.

The Quran states, “We have created man into a life of toil and trial.” (90:4) The word ‘toil’ here is used in a positive rather than a negative sense. When we view it from this perspective, we find that it means  ‘struggle.’

In other words, the condition of man’s stay in the present world is such that he must lead a life of struggle. He must navigate a challenging course in life, which is essential for building a positive human personality. This fact is reflected in the words of Samuel Smiles: “It is not ease but effort, not facility but difficulty that makes the man.”

Man is potentially like an ore. Machines are made from steel, but producing steel requires a lengthy industrial process. Iron ore must first undergo a long process of being heated in a blast furnace, and only then can steel be produced. Even then, the metal must go through various stages before it can take the form of machines.

The same is true of human beings. Man is born with great potential. However, to turn this potential into actuality, he must undergo various difficult stages in life. It is by going through these stages that man develops intellectually and becomes a mature person. Without experiencing the processes of hard struggle, no one can become a man of high calibre, which makes him deserving of Paradise.

Every difficult situation in this world serves as a challenge. By facing these challenges, man reaches high levels of progress and development, making him deserving of Paradise.