DESERVING CANDIDATE FOR PARADISE

Who is a deserving candidate for the eternal world of Paradise? The Quran is a revealed book which gives the answer to this question. According to the Quran, only a muzakka (20:76) person will be selected for being settled into Paradise.

Muzakka means a purified soul. The muzakka person is one who prepares himself in terms of the Paradise culture, who develops his personality on the lines required for living in the society of Paradise. Paradise is an ideal society. Everything in Paradise will be perfect and up to a high standard. The qualities that are required in a muzakka person are given in the Quran in detail.

Paradise is not anyone’s birth right, nor will one receive entry into it through recommendation or wishful thinking. Entry into Paradise is totally a matter of selection, and this selection will be done by none other than God Almighty in the world hereafter.

The hearts of the people of Paradise will be filled with the glory of God. (39:75) This is the first quality of a muzakka person. That is, he must discover the glory of God in the present world and acknowledge it from deep within his heart. Glorifying God is always a result of discovery. It means that a person should adopt the culture of contemplation (tadabbur), and through thinking and reflection, discover God as the Lord of the Universe. This discovery must be intellectually so deep that it should bring about a revolutionary change in his personality. In this way he becomes a rabbani (3:79) person, as defined in the Quran.

A scene from Paradise has been given in the Quran in the chapter Al-Qamar (The Moon) in these words:

The God-fearing will find themselves in gardens and rivers, in the seat of truth with an all-powerful sovereign. (54:55)

It means that the people of Paradise will have the qualities of truthfulness and sincerity in the complete sense of the word. Those who have proved that they possess this high quality will be enrolled in the bright list of entrants to Paradise.

The Quran refers to Paradise as dar as-salam (10:25). Dar as-salam means the home of peace. According to this, every member of the high society of Paradise will be a peaceful person in the complete sense of the word. Only that person will be selected for Paradise who has proved in the present world that he is so intellectually developed that he can live in society with peace and compassion. No excuse, whatsoever, would develop the slightest feelings of hate and violence against anyone in his heart.

Regarding the atmosphere of Paradise, the Quran says: “They will not hear therein any vain or sinful talk.” (56:25) Anyone who does not stand up to this criterion will be declared as disqualified from entering Paradise.

About the sublime society of Paradise, there is a very meaningful verse in the Quran in the chapter Al-Nisa’ (Women). It says:

Whoever obeys God and the Prophet will be among those He has blessed: the prophets, the truthful, the witnesses for God, and the righteous. What excellent companions these are! (4:69)

This is the picture given in the Quran. It means that the society of Paradise will be a collection of the best individuals from the whole of human history. These Quranic statements illustrate that Paradise will be a society of high standard in the extreme sense of the word. Every member of this society will possess the fine qualities of positive thinking, peaceful behaviour, sublime character, truthfulness, sincerity and amiable personality, idealist in thought and perfectionist in behaviour. Every person of Paradise will be like a beautiful flower of the divine garden.

Those who have developed this kind of personality in the present world are competent members of their society. Only those persons will find entry into Paradise who have qualified themselves in the present world.

Paradise is not anyone’s birth right, nor will one receive entry into it through recommendation or wishful thinking. Entry into Paradise is totally a matter of selection, and this selection will be done by none other than God Almighty in the world hereafter. This criterion has been given in the Quran in these words: “[In the Hereafter] man shall have only that for which he strives.” (53:39). It means only that person will find entry into Paradise who qualifies for it. Paradise is a perfect world, and only perfect character will find entry into it.