Allah is the one who creates anything He wishes in any form and any time, whose creation is unique and who does not need anything. In this sense, there is no need for any causes, means or steps for Allah to create. Allah is the Creator of all things causes and laws, is free of all of them. Entry to Paradise is limited to those who believe in God and his messengers, and who has led a good life on earth. Allah says
وَسَارِعُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
“Be quick in the race for forgiveness from your Lord, and for a Garden whose width is that [of the whole] of the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous.” (Surah Al-Imran:3:133)
Allah, Who created the universe out of nothing, will abolish all of the laws and causes which we try to comprehend on earth when He wishes. It is an art of Allah to create everything on earth within a cause and effect relationship in this way and these manifestations of our Lord’s are infinite. Allah can create everything at any time He wishes and in any form He wishes, and He can turn them into any form He wishes. Allah says
رَّبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فَاعْبُدْهُ وَاصْطَبِرْ لِعِبَادَتِهِ ۚ هَلْ تَعْلَمُ لَهُ سَمِيًّا
He is the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, so worship Him and have patience in His worship. Do you know of anything similar to Him?” (Surah Maryam 19:65)
It is stated in Quranic verses and hadiths that anything desired by a person will come true in Paradise with the wishing of Allah. In this sense, in Paradise, it may be possible for people to experience things that they can only dream of but cannot be possible on earth. Allah will give people in Paradise an opportunity to choose whatever appearance they like at any time.
Allah has also described Paradise in many places in the Quran, let us take a look for the believers:
- Paradise surpass imagination and defy description
- Paradise ground and its soil is of musk and saffron
- Paradise roof is like a throne of the Most Merciful
- Paradise will have ranks according to their piety
- Paradise leaves are softer than the softest cloth
- Paradise will live in uninterrupted enjoyments
- Paradise is located above the seventh sky
- Paradise rocks are like pearls and jewels
- Paradise contains rivers of pure honey
- Paradise contains rivers of pure milk
- Paradise provides great enjoyment
- A paradise is a ripe fruit
- A paradise is a flowing river
- A paradise is a greenness, joy
- A paradise is a coolness of mind
- A paradise is a widespread scent
- A paradise is a well-built mansion
- A paradise is a place of shining light
- A paradise is a freshness as an eternal dwelling
- A paradise is a means all things are in Allah’s hands
Those people, who ignore that Allah created everything with destiny and for a good reason, fall into fear and panic when they encounter events that seem difficult. They fall into boredom; they complain because they do not submit themselves to Allah, and they even feel so great sadness that it harms their health. However, one cannot know what is good and what is bad for oneself; only Allah can know it. Allah says
إِنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْجَنَّةِ الْيَوْمَ فِي شُغُلٍ فَاكِهُونَ هُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُهُمْ فِي ظِلَالٍ عَلَى الْأَرَائِكِ مُتَّكِئُونَ
“Verily, the companions of Paradise that Day will be busy in amusement, they and their spouses in shade, reclining on adorned couches.” (Surah Ya Seen 36:56)
When this desire is not satiated, it causes some extent of grief in a person. For this reason, God has promised the inhabitants of Paradise that they will have all that they imagined as far as wealth and belongings are concerned, both for those who were extremely poor, experiencing even hunger and thirst, to those well-to-do but who desired even more. Allah says:
وَاعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَلَا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا ۖ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا وَبِذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْجَارِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْجَارِ الْجُنُبِ وَالصَّاحِبِ بِالْجَنبِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ مُخْتَالًا فَخُورًا
Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him and be good to parents and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbour, the far neighbour, the companion at your side, the traveller, and those whom your right hands possess. Verily, Allah does not like those who are deluding and boastful.” (Surah An-Nisa 4:36)
While people in this world experience some delight, they also face much toil and suffering. If one was to scrutinize the life which they live, they will find that the amount of hardship they face is much more than ease and comfort. As for the life of the Hereafter, there will be neither hardship nor suffering in it, and people will live therein in pure joy and delight. All the causes of sorrow, pain and suffering which people experience in this life will be absent in the Hereafter. Allah says:
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
“The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith, and they rely upon their Lord.” (Surah Al-Anfal 8:2)
Allah told the people: No person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy as a reward for what they used to do. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) told that there are things which have never been seen by an eye, or heard by an ear, or imagined by a human being in Paradise. The rivers of the world may be contaminated with impurities, dust, saltiness, dryness, and reliction, but the rivers of Paradise are:
Allah Almighty says in the Holy Quran:
- “…what their souls desired, in that will they dwell.” (al-Anbiya,21-102)
- “Thou wilt recognize in their faces the beaming brightness of Bliss.” (Al-Mutaffifin, 83-24).
- “There no sense of fatigue shall touch them, nor shall they (ever) be asked to leave.” (Al-Hijr, 15-48)
- “…But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you know not.” (Al-Baqarah, 2;216)
- “Every soul will be (held) in pledge for its deeds. Except for the Companions of the Right Hand. They will be) in Gardens (of Delight).” (Al-Muddathir, 74; 38-40)
- “…there will be there all that the souls could desire, all that their eyes could delight in: and ye shall abide therein (for aye).” (Az-Zukhruf, 43-1)
- “…therein shall ye have all that your souls shall desire; therein shall ye have all that ye ask for!” (Fussilat, 41-31)
Every society, no matter how much pious people are living in it, consists of sentiments of hatred and abhor among its individuals. However, in Paradise, Allah Almighty has promised its adherents to have no feeling of dislike among one another whatsoever. They will also recall their du’aa’s in times of hardship when they raised their hands to heaven asking for their deeds to be accepted and for help to do righteous deeds and to be included among those who would inherit blessings. Allaah says:
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
“And those who believed and did righteous deeds, those (are the) companions (of) Paradise; they in it (will) abide forever.” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:82)
As regards the matter of them desiring something like the blessings of this world, they will desire something better than that, because even the person who is the lowest in status in Paradise will enjoy something like ten times the joys of this world. Everything that the people of Paradise desire will be theirs. Allaah says:
أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَيْرٌ مُّسْتَقَرًّا وَأَحْسَنُ مَقِيلًا
“(The) companions (of) Paradise, that Day, (will be in) a better abode, and a better resting-place.” (Surah Al-Furqan 25:24)
Everything on earth is created with deficits and flaws deliberately as a requirement of testing. True believers show patience in the face of all hardships and troubles on earth; they submit to Allah. None will die in Paradise. All shall live eternally enjoying the pleasures therein. Allah says
إِنَّا أَنشَأْنَاهُنَّ إِنشَاءً فَجَعَلْنَاهُنَّ أَبْكَارًا عُرُبًا أَتْرَابًا لِّأَصْحَابِ الْيَمِينِ
“Verily, We have produced the women of Paradise in a new creation and made them virgins, devoted and matched in age, for the companions of the right.” (Surah Al-Waq’iah 56:35-38)
The reality of Paradise is something that people will never be able to understand until they enter it, but God has shown us glimpses of it in the Quran. He has described it as a place essentially different from the life of this world, both in the very nature and purpose of life. The Quran tells people about Paradise, which God offers to them, describes its great blessings, and proclaims its beauties to everyone.
