The Thanksgiver
and the Denier of God

In the present life, God’s Angels are continuously preparing a record of man’s words and deeds. Based on this record, one who is a thanksgiver, will gain entry into Paradise, and one who is a denier and does not acknowledge God will be deprived of Paradise forever.

The time prior to death is a testing period. After death will be the time for receiving the reward commensurate with the results of one’s test. This test, referred to in the Quran (76:7), tells us who is a thanks-giver and who a denier, who lives a life of acknowledgement and who lives a life of ingratitude. Thanksgiving is, in fact acknowledgement and denial is, in fact, ingratitude.

In the Hereafter, when all human beings are presented before their Creator, their eternal future will be decided according to the record of their past deeds. In the court of the Creator, some will be declared thanks-givers while others will be declared as deniers, that is, those who did not acknowledge God. This decision will be based on what deeds one did in the life before death.

The greatest fortune a person may have is that in the stage of life after death he gains entry into Paradise. This entry into Paradise will not be based on anything mysterious. According to the Quran, it will be based on thanksgiving, or acknowledgement of God.

In the life of the present world, God’s Angels are continuously preparing a record of man’s words and deeds. According to this record, one who is a thanks-giver, will gain entry into Paradise. And one who denies God or does not acknowledge God will be deprived of Paradise forever.

The thanks-giver has a well-integrated personality. This personality may be called a godly (Rabbani) personality, although it is built by man himself. The more one develops his consciousness, the more he will be able to develop his godly or spiritual personality. Such a personality is formed through living consciousness rather than as a result of wishful thinking or some mysterious procedure.