Introducing Islam a Simple Introduction to Islam
Paradise—The Greatest of Gifts
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PARADISE—THE GREATEST OF GIFTS
Everything in heaven and on earth bows to God,
but no natural act of prostration can compare to
man’s obeisance. Other creatures submit to God
involuntarily. Man does so expressly, of his own
free will.
Man
submits
to
God
consciously
and
independently. No action in the world can compare
with man’s submission. Herein lies the real value of
man. Man is the only creature who is fully aware of
his total helplessness in the face of God’s
omnipotence. He counts himself as nothing and
God as everything. He renounces his own ego in the
face of divinity. He forsakes all power and
surrenders totally to God. He controls his speech for
God’s sake, as if he had no tongue of his own.
Becoming a true believer is the greatest thing that
can happen in the world. The reward for such belief
must be similarly great. Heaven is the name of that
reward. Paradise is not the price of one’s actions: it
is the gift of God. It is granted to those who offer
God something which nothing else in the universe
