Deserving of Paradise

DESERVING OF PARADISE To find an answer to this question, one must become aware of the Creation Plan of God. God has created man according to His Plan. To become acquainted with this plan, man must thoroughly understand himself. Just as the workings of a machine can only be understood when we study the engineer’s drawings, the same principle applies to understanding man. Besides the engineer’s mind, there is no other way to clarify what the machine is meant for. The case is the same for men. Only by understanding the Creation Plan of the Creator can we know the purpose of man’s life. Man’s existence is such a unique phenomenon that no comparable example can be found throughout the vastness of the cosmos. Man is rightly called the ‘best of all creations,’ which means the best and most meaningful ‘being’ among all created things. Such a ‘meaningful being’ cannot have been created without a purpose. The Creator of man has created him according to a unique plan. The Quran, the only preserved religious scripture, sheds light on this plan: “He created death and life so that He might test you, and find out which of you is best in conduct.” (67:2) According to this verse of the Quran, man was created as an eternal being, and ‘death and life’ represent both the predeath and post-death periods of human life. Thus, death and life encompass the entire eternal lifespan of human beings. The Creator of man has created him according to a unique plan. His intention is for man to undergo a period of trial in this present, imperfect world, and then, based on