Living in God’s Neighbourhood

the neighbourhood of God, man has to live up to the divine code related to God. This begins with the realization of God. When an individual discovers his Creator, this transforms his mind. His divine Nature is awakened, and, as a result, all those qualities have been produced that measure up to the standard of elevated human ethics. Everything has a price, and the price of Paradise is the realization of God. Nothing less than that can open the gates of Paradise. The Truth is that if anything less than the realization of God is regarded as the price of Paradise, that would constitute the belittling of Paradise. Those selected for Paradise are the ones who have made God their foremost concern in the life of this world. Their thinking and feelings have all been devoted to God. Their mornings and evenings have been filled with the remembrance of God. These are the fortunate souls who will be selected to live in the neighbourhood of God for all eternity. God’s angels will welcome those men and women who reach the Hereafter with all the above qualities. The angels would come forward, congratulating him and saying that he was a blessed soul who could enter God’s Heaven by divine decree, where there was no death and no parting from a joyful existence, and that eternal life had been granted to him for all eternity. The Quran affirms this promise: “O Soul at peace! Come to your Lord well pleased, and He will be well pleased with you. So enter among My chosen servants. And enter My Garden.” (89:27-30)