Love of God

THE BUILDING OF A PERSONALITY only men and women of high calibre will be settled there according to the records of human beings being prepared in this world. According to the Quran, Paradise is a place which is in the neighbourhood of God. Here, in this world of truth, only the truthful will find an eternal abode, “in the seat of truth with an all-powerful Sovereign” (54:55). Inhabiting Paradise is to be in the neighbourhood of God (66:11). The notion that entry into the neighbourhood of God can be had just on the basis of human recommendation is totally baseless. THE BUILDING OF A PERSONALITY Man is born with great potential. He has to turn his potential into actuality on his own. By facing life’s difficult situations as challenges, man reaches high levels of progress and develops a purified personality. This makes him deserving of Paradise. Chapter 90 of the Quran says, “We have created man into a life of toil.” (90:4) The word ‘toil’ here has been used in a positive, rather than in a negative sense. When we look at it from this aspect, we find that here it means ‘struggle.’ That is, the condition of man’s stay in the present world is such that he has to lead a life of struggle. He has to pursue a difficult course in life. This is essential for the building of a positive human personality. It is a fact which has been expressed in this saying of Samuels Smiles: “It is not ease but effort, not facility but difficulty that makes man.”