Living in God’s Neighbourhood

LIVING IN GOD’S NEIGHBOURHOOD The people selected to live in God’s neighbourhood— Paradise—are the ones who have realized God while He is in the unseen, who adhere to the social and moral ethics set by God and are giver members of society. Paradise is another name for eternal life in the neighbourhood of God (Quran, 66:11). Paradise is the eternal ideal world, which is the ultimate objective of every human being. Paradise is called the ‘Home of Peace’ (Quran, 10: 25). We learn from the Quran that the people of Paradise will wish peace for one another, which indicates the importance of peace in the ideal society. In the world before death, those who live in the neighbourhood of God at the psychological level will, in the world Hereafter, live in the eternal neighbourhood of God—Paradise—in reality. The good fortune of finding a place in God’s neighbourhood in the eternal life of the Hereafter will be based totally on merit. God’s neighbourhood is like a universal garden. Only those will find a place in this universal garden that measures up to the divine criterion. Anything short of this will not guarantee a place in this universal garden. Who will be eligible for entry into God’s Paradise? God will allow only those people who adhere to divine ethics to live in His neighbourhood at two levels: one stands in relation to man versus man, and another stands in regard to man versus God. These two codes of ethics are different in their dimensions. In relation to other human beings, one must follow social ethics like love, respect, well-wishing, and peace. Adherence to such social ethics makes one a giver member of society. But no one can be held deserving of entry into Paradise just by adhering to social ethics. To be deserving of entry into