FOREWORD

this criterion will be the people whom God will bless with His nearness in the perfect world of the Hereafter (66:11). They will be held deserving of God’s hospitality. (41:32) We learn from the Quran that the whole universe is obedient to God (3:83). In this respect, the material universe serves as a model of submission to God for humanity. The only difference is that man submits to God of his own free will, despite having complete freedom, while the rest of the universe has submitted to God out of compulsion. Submission by choice is a unique phenomenon, the proof of which is given only by man in this world. Everything in the universe, from particles to stars and planets, expresses God’s glory in the complete sense, albeit in silent language, whereas man stands in this world and articulates his admiration for his Creator by saying: ‘O God, You are the greatest. Therefore, I surrender myself before You in acknowledgment of Your greatness.’ It is man alone who discovers his Creator at a conscious level and then, acknowledging his Creator at this level surrenders himself totally before Him. Paradise is the reward for this conscious surrender.