I have not seen anything as dreadful as the Fire whose evader is asleep and anything as desirable as Paradise whose seeker is asleep. (Prophet Muhammad, Sunan At-Tirmidhi, Hadith no. 2601) Why is it that people do not flee from something so undesirable as Hell? And why is it that they do not make something so desirable as Heaven their aim and destination? It is because of being neglectful. This neglect is because of people’s tendency to concern themselves only with what they can see externally. As a result of this, their minds are not awakened. They remain ignorant of realities they ought to be aware of. In terms of the reality of life, human beings ought to think, first and foremost, of what is the way to lead a successful life according to God’s creation plan. There is no other way to make one’s life successful.

Man has been created to inhabit Paradise, but by the misuse of the freedom granted by God, he makes himself deserving only for Hell: The eternal dustbin. God has a complete record of man’s actions. In the eternal life after death, God would judge everyone according to this record. One who exercised his freedom wrongly would be thrown into eternal Hellfire.

It is a must for the seeker of Tazkiyah (Purification of the soul) to recall such incidents repeatedly in order to refresh the mind of how, when he had reached the very brink of destruction, was saved by the special intervention of God. He should keep remembering every graphic detail of these incidents and beseech God thus: “O God, you have repeatedly saved me from the horrible consequences of my actions in the life of this world. In the same way, save me from the horrible punishment of hell in the Hereafter.”

Man deserves eternal Paradise for using his freedom properly. Its misuse destines him to Hell.