Paradise: The Ideal World to Live In

The fact is that man is the only creature throughout the universe who has been endowed with a mind, who consciously knows ‘I am what I am’. Although man has no power, but as regards freedom, he enjoys complete freedom without any restrictions. In other words, God is All-powerful while man is all-powerless in spite of having complete freedom. When man says: ‘O God Almighty, You are my Lord!’ he says this consciously, without any compulsion. This phenomenon is the greatest moment in the whole universe. This is like making the second extent of the all-powerless in comparison to the All-powerful.

This is the speciality of man. It is this speciality that makes man a deserving candidate for Paradise. Paradise will not be granted on a mass scale. It will be given to those lucky persons who are able to stand on this highly complex test. Paradise is a perfect place, and only those individuals will find entry to Paradise who prove that they possess the perfect quality of having discovered God at a conscious level. It is this missing link of the universe that is called man.

Here, the Quran uses two words: ishtiha and iddi‘a. Ishtiha means to desire and iddi‘a means to demand. By ishtiha is meant material desire and by iddi‘a intellectual demand.

These two words refer to two aspects of the human personality. Ishtiha means that the material desires of the people of Paradise will be fulfilled in their perfect form. In the present world also there are things that we desire, but they are fulfilled in an imperfect way and the sense of fulfilment derived from them is temporary in nature. In Paradise we will be provided with these in their perfect form and for eternity.

God Almighty will select such individuals from the whole of human history and settle them in Paradise. In this way that kind of high society will be formed in Paradise which is the greatest need of a true believer.