ON THE THRESHOLD OF PARADISE

In the Industrial Age, the earth has been beautified. Its cities have been meticulously planned. Developments in science and technology have made the earth a better place to live. Similarly, with the dawn of the final period—the Spiritual Age—the earth will be further improved to become an ideal world. A number of verses in the Quran give clear indications of this. For instance, Praise be to God, Who has fulfilled His promise to us and bestowed upon us the earth to inherit, so that we may dwell in Paradise wherever we please. (THE QURAN 39: 74) Paradise is described as being ‘as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who believe in God and his Messengers’. (THE QURAN 57: 21) The earth will shine with the light of its Lord. (THE QURAN 39: 69) Today our world is potential Paradise. Tomorrow this potential will become a reality, and the earth will become a place of eternal happiness and joy. Although on earth there exists nature’s life support system in its perfect form, events have shown that the present state of the earth is not an ideal one. Nature’s system may be at its best, but the presence of both good and evil make it far from ideal. Here, individuals who do good and those who do bad exist alongside each other. The presence of people who misuse their freedom is the source of all kinds of evil. But as the final phase of civilization approaches, the bad individuals will be separated from the good. They will be deprived of the resources of the earth, and the earth will be entrusted solely to the good. This is the truth which has been mentioned in the following verse: And indeed, We have written in Az-Zabur (Psalms) that My righteous slaves shall inherit the land. (i.e. the land of Paradise) (THE QURAN 21: 105) This statement in the Quran is recorded in detail in the Book of Psalms in the Bible: The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell in it forever. (PSALMS 37: 29) By Divine arrangement, in Paradise, justice will prevail in its most perfect form.