The Creation Plan of GodA western philosopher has written that itappears that man is a stranger in this vastuniverse. It seems that neither has man beenmade for this world, nor has this world beenmade for man. Both seem mismatched.

Man is born with unlimited potential, yet inthe present world he finds only a very limiteduse for it. According to his nature, man wantsto live eternally, but very soon, without his leave,death arrives and puts an end to his life. Heharbours an ocean of desires in his heart, butthese desires are never fulfilled. He houses a lifeof dreams in his mind, but these dreams arenever realized. In this case, there is no differencebetween a poor man and a rich man. Why areman and the present world so mismatched? Wecan find our answer if we understand God’sCreation Plan.

The reality is that God—the Creator of man,has created man according to His Plan. Tobecome acquainted with this Plan it is necessary

1

for a man to have a thorough understanding ofhimself—just as the workings of a machine canonly be understood when we study the drawingsof the engineer who made it. Besides the mindof the engineer, there is no other thing that canclarify what the machine is meant for. The caseof man is the same.

The existence of man is such a uniquephenomenon that no other such example can befound throughout the vastness of the cosmos.Man is rightly called the ‘best of all creations,’which means the best and most meaningful‘being’ among all the things created. Such a‘meaningful being’ cannot have been createdwithout a purpose. The Creator of man hascreated him according to a special Plan. Hisintention being that man must spend a period oftrial in this present, imperfect world andsubsequent to this, according to his deeds, hewill earn the right to inhabit the perfect andeternal world, another name for which isParadise.

2

The Creator of the world has created thisworld, as one half of a pair—the present world,in which we pass our lives after birth, is thefirst half; and the next eternal world where welive after death is the other half. The Creatorof man has thus created him as an eternalcreature and has divided his life into twostages—the pre-death period or the life in thisworld and the post death period or the life afterdeath. The limited period before death is meantto be a test for man, while the period after hisdeath will be the period for his reward orpunishment, based on his performance in thetest in this life. This is the scheme of existencefor this world as devised by its Creator. Thereal aim of creation is to select those who arefit to inhabit the world of Paradise.

3

What is Paradise?Paradise is the name of the ideal world; the desirefor which is lodged in the hearts of every manand woman. It is Paradise where the personalityof man shall achieve fulfillment in the fullestsense. Man desires this Paradise with every fibreof his being and Paradise in all its entirety awaitshim.

Paradise is that world, where a creation suchas man attains his complete fulfillment, wherehe thinks the way he wants to think; where hesees what he desires to see; where he listens tothe sounds that give pleasure to his ears in thereal sense; where he touches those things whichgives him the highest degree of pleasure; wherehe has the company of those people who makehis life highly meaningful, where the winds arelife-giving zephyrs for him, where he eats suchfood as he eternally craved for and he sips suchdrinks as are only beautiful figments of hisimagination today.

4

How do we Qualify for Paradise?In the present world of trial, any man or womanto be eligible for Paradise, needs to have twoqualifications: one is to acknowledge truth andthe other is to lead a principled life. Those menand women who qualify in this test will be givena place in Paradise—where all their desires willbe fulfilled. For those who fail in this test, theyshall spend their lives in a state of eternaldeprivation.

In the present world, man finds himself totallyfree. However, this freedom does not belong tohim as a matter of right, but is rather a test paper.What man has to do is to acknowledge the truthof One God, and surrender to Him—not bycompulsion but by his own choice. Thissurrendering before the truth of One God iswithout doubt the greatest sacrifice that any mancan make. Acknowledging the truth of One Godis, like making oneself smaller not only to Godbut to others as well. But this is the very virtue,which will raise man to the highest position. It

5

will take him to the very entrance of Paradise.The second important thing in this set ofrequirements is to lead a principled life. Generallyman’s character is moulded by his emotions—anger, revenge, jealousy, hatred, rivalry, etc.These are the negative feelings that shape man’spersonality. But man has to become disciplinedin such matters. He should not build hischaracter under the influence of externalincentives, but by his own decisions: he shouldestablish it on the basis of higher principles. Thisis what is called Divine character.

The Right Approach to the Creation PlanAccording to this Creation Plan of God, humanbeings are placed in situations where they haveto face hardships from time to time throughouttheir lives as part of their test. Difficulty andsadness are integral part of the creation plan ofthe Creator. No man has the power to extricatehimself from this life of trial and tribulation. Thisarrangement is to remind man of the fact that

6

7

the present world has not been made as a placeof luxury and comfort, but rather as a period oftrial and as such as will help determine whetherhe is eligible or not for the eternal life in Paradise.

In spite of tremendous development in thepresent world, adverse conditions are still verymuch in evidence. But people, owing to theirlack of awareness of God’s creation plan, donot understand why this is prevalent. So, theycontinue to react negatively to situations and bygiving such a response, prove themselves—inthe eyes of God—to be failures in the examinationhe has set for them. Stress is also a majorproblem faced by people everywhere. Manyinstitutions have been established which claimto be able to eliminate stress. What theseinstitutions actually do, in their endeavour to de-stress people is to ask them to stop their thinkingprocess, thus bringing on them a kind oftemporary anaesthesia. This is, however, not areal solution to the problem of stress. There isonly one true solution to this problem and that is

8

to adopt the correct attitude to stress—that ofmanaging stress instead of trying to eliminate itor react negatively to it and thus pass our test.Unpleasantness has been put into this world forman to learn the right lessons from it. The truelesson taught by unpleasant experiences is thatman remembers the next world of Paradise.

Seen in the light of this creation plan, the rootof all human problems is that the unenlightenedwant to make their Paradise in this world priorto death, whereas under the natural laws, thesituation here on earth makes this impossible.According to God’s creation plan, man has tobe content in this world before death, so that hemay be sure that in the world after death he hasParadise in store for him. The right and properthing for man to do is therefore to acknowledgeand accept this law of creation, and plan his lifeaccordingly. His sole aim in this present worldshould be to make himself acceptable in the eyesof God, so that he may be held eligible foradmission into Paradise in the eternal world after

9

death. A successful person is one who hasrealized the eternal world in this temporaryworld; who has discovered in the failures of thepresent world, the secret to eternal success inthe next eternal world.

The Most Important IssueIf a group of people were asked, ‘What was themost important issue for mankind today?’different people would have different answers.Some would say that the spread of nuclearweapons was the most important issue. Somewould say population explosion, while othersmight say that the production and distributionof wealth were of paramount importance. Suchdiversity of opinions shows that people ingeneral do not properly recognize themselves.If they did, they would all agree that the mostcritical issue facing mankind was man’sdisregard of the reality of his existence.

Man persists in ignoring the inescapable factthat one day he must die and be called to account

10

before his Maker. If he were to become awareof the reality of his existence, it would be to theafterlife rather than to this world that he woulddirect his attention. If you stand at a busycrossroads during the evening rush-hour andobserve what people are hurrying towards, youwill realize what today’s human-being haschosen as his fundamental issue. Why do youthink there is an endless stream of traffic in thestreets? Why has the merchant decorated hisshop? Where are the crowds of people comingfrom and going to? What is the main topic ofpeople’s conversation and the true purpose oftheir meeting one another? What interests themthe most? To what use are their finest talentsand resources put? What have people taken withthem; from their homes, and what do they intendto return with? If you can answer thesequestions, you will also be able to deduce exactlywhat it is that mankind has chosen to base hislife on and what he is endeavouring to achieve.

11

It is plain for all to see that today’s humanbeing is simply running after the satisfaction ofhis own desires. It is the world rather than theafterlife that he is eager to obtain. His happinesshinges on the fulfilment of his worldly ambitions,while his grief stems from the fact that thisseemingly eludes him. The everyday concept ofsuccess is the immediate acquisition ofcommodities, the enjoyment of leisure andpopular acclaim; while failure, to him means tobe deprived of these things. This is what thewhole of humanity is chasing. No one caresabout tomorrow; everyone becomes franticabout getting his share now, today, this veryminute.

This state of affairs is prevalent not only inour big cities but even in the tiniest humansettlements; wherever one goes, people seem tobe similarly obsessed. Male and female, rich andpoor, old and young, urbane and rustic, eventhe religious and irreligious all are running in this

12

same direction. Man is even ready to sacrificehis faith and his conscience for them at the altarof worldly gain. His struggle is for worldly endsalone, and he cares not what this struggle entails.Every success gained in this way, however, istrivial and mundane and will be of no avail in theafterlife. He who is concerned with theconsolidation of his worldly position at theexpense of the afterlife is like the young manwho does not care to save up for his old age.Eventually the time comes when his limbs failhim and he becomes unfit for further toil.Suddenly he realizes his predicament: he is nolonger able to provide for himself. The sameapplies to our afterlife. All of us are tooconcerned with the consolidation of our presentpositions. No one gives a thought to tomorrow.Though we witness with our own eyes the deathof people all around us, we are still notgalvanized into action. When the air-raid sirensounds in wartime and proclaims in its chillingwail: ‘Squadrons of enemy bombers are

13

approaching to blast this city to eternity. To theair-raid shelters at once!’ everyone immediatelytakes the quickest route to the shelters and in aninstant, the busiest of streets are deserted. Anyonewho does not react in this manner is consideredinsane.

There is another danger, however, even moreterrible and inevitable, concerning which the Lordof the worlds has given us due warning, whichwe do not even give a second thought to. What isthis warning? It is the warning of the Lord of theworlds. He proclaims His imperatives through Hisprophets to mankind, ‘Worship Me, fulfil yourobligations to one another and live in accordancewith My will. I will punish those who fail to dothis in a way that cannot be imagined.’ Although,every ear has heard this declaration and everytongue acknowledges it in one form or the other,but the general attitude is to treat it as a matter of‘no consequence.’ In order to avail themselvesof worldly advantages, people perpetrate everyform of misdemeanour.

14

However when it comes to the advantages ofthe afterlife, they are not concerned enough totake appropriate action. In this way, life’s caravanproceeds heedlessly towards a point of no return.People start in response to the siren-screechingout from the military headquarters, but noimportance is attached to the danger signal thatthe Lord of the Universe has given out formankind. Far from hastening at the sound of it,no one even alters his pace.

What can be the reason for this sorry state ofaffairs? It is simply that the danger about whichthe military headquarters’ siren warns us is ofthis world and is observable by us. So, everyoneperceives this and knows that its effects will beimmediately felt. On the other hand, the dangerthat God has cautioned us about will be felt onlyin the afterlife: the wall of death stands betweenus and its realization and our eyes cannotpenetrate it. Therefore, although peopleimmediately respond to the air-raid siren, theyremain unaffected and dispassionate on hearing

15

of the calamity of which God has given us amplewarning. The news does not impress upon themthe absolute certainty of their doom. This beingso, they do not feel spurred on to atone for theirsins, or to begin leading righteous lives.

God has given us not only our two eyes withwhich to perceive the external world, but also a‘third’ eye, which can scan the invisible realitiesthat lie beyond the horizons of perception. This‘third’ eye is that of our intellect. People remainin a state of doubt because they do not use theirintellect. They reckon that reality is what theysee through their two eyes, whereas, if they wereto ponder over things, they would become evenmore certain about what remains unseen thanabout what is visible.

What is the one reality that everybodyacknowledges? Death must be the unanimousanswer to this question. Death is a reality towhich everyone has to reconcile himself with.Everyone realizes that death can overtake one atany time, but whenever the thought of death

16

occurs to people, the things that they think aboutare of domestic nature like: ‘What will happento my children after I die?’ In fact, most of theirlife is spent in safeguarding their children’sfuture, but no efforts are made to insure theirown life ahead. From their attitude, it seems asif only their children will survive them, and thatthey themselves will be non-existent and so theyreally have nothing to prepare for. They aretotally unaware of the fact that there is a lifeafter death. Whereas the fact of the matter isthat, the real life only commences after our death.If people only realized that when they are buried,they are actually being ushered into anotherworld, they would be more worried aboutthemselves rather than about their children’sfuture. This is because most people, whetherreligiously or agnostically inclined, are notconvinced about the afterlife. Two factors causeone to have doubts about life after death. Firstly,on dying, every human being turns into dust andall traces of his body are effaced. How then can

17

he subsequently be revived? Secondly, the factthat life after death is not visible to us, while theworld of today is an observable phenomenon. Soif no one has actually seen it, how can we placeimplicit trust in its advent? Let us look at boththese objections in turn.

Life After Death‘When I am dead, will I then be raised up again?’This question is in the back of the minds ofeven those who do not have any deepconvictions of the reality of life after death. Thefact however remains that very few people giveany direct attention to the question of the afterlifewhile they are in this world. This is surely anindication of the conscious or subconsciousdoubt as to its existence. If, however, we giveserious thought to the reality of life after death,it becomes easily comprehensible: God, wishingto put us to the test, has not divulged the secretsof life after death to us directly. He has howeverspread His signs throughout the universe for us

18

to see and ponder over. This can lead us to atrue realization of God and the essence of allthings around us. This universe is actually amirror in which we can gaze upon the image ofthe next world. Let us understand how.

It is common knowledge that human beingshave not always existed in their present state.Man is derived from a formless substance,which gradually takes on the form of a humanbeing as it grows in the mother’s womb. Thisprocess continues until, in the outside world, itdevelops into a full-fledged human being. Themetamorphosis of an insensate, valuelesssubstance, imperceptible to the naked eye, intoa six-foot tall human being, is an everyday event.So why should we have any difficulty inunderstanding how the minute particles of ourbodies, after being scattered in the ground, willonce again take on a human form? In fact, everyindividual one sees walking around is, anaccumulation of countless atoms, previouslydispersed in unknown dimensions throughout the

19

earth and atmosphere. Presently the forces ofnature brought these atoms together in onemeaningful, sensate pattern, so that we are nowable to observe these same scattered atoms in theform of a human being—capable of thought,feeling and movement. The very same processwill be repeated when, subsequent to our death,our particles are diffused in the air, water and earth.Afterwards, at God’s command, they will bereassembled and once again assume the form of ahuman being. What is so extraordinary about there-occurrence of an event that has alreadyhappened once before?

Even in the world of matter there areindications of the practicability of a repetition oflife. Every year, in the rainy season, vegetationflourishes and its greenery spreads in alldirections. Then the summer pronounces itsdeath sentence and the earth dries up. Whereflowers bloomed, only a barren plain can be seen.Thus a full-fledged life expires. But when therains come again, and water pours down from

20

the sky, that very same vegetation is revivedand the dry land once again becomes a meadow.In this very same manner, man will be raised tolife after his death. Let us look at this fromanother angle. Doubts occur concerning life afterdeath because our imagination is formulated interms of our present physical existence. Weconsider the mobile figure outwardly apparentto us to be the essential human being. We thenwonder how this form can be refashioned andraised up again once it has rotted away andmingled with the earth. We observe that whendeath strikes, an animate human being becomessilent; his motion is halted and all his facultiescease to function. Afterwards he is buried in theground or cremated depending on the customsof the people concerned. A few days later, thebody has been reduced to tiny particles andmingled with the earth in such a way as to beundetectable to normal vision. We witness dailythe extinction of living human beings in thismanner and find it difficult to comprehend how

21

a form so totally obliterated can possibly berevived.

The fact is that the word ‘man’ refers, not toany such bodily form, but rather to the ‘soul,’which inhabits the body. As far as the physicalframe is concerned, we know that it is composedof tiny particles called living cells. The positionof cells in our body is like that of bricks in abuilding. The bricks of our physical structure orcells are continuously destroyed in the course ofour daily lives and we compensate for this lossby taking in food. Food, once digested, producesvarious forms of cells, which counter-balancethis physical deficiency. In this way, the humanbody is constantly being eroded and altered. Oldcells are destroyed and new ones take their place.This process continues daily until eventually totalrenovation of the body occurs, usually within aperiod of ten years. To put it another way, nothingwhatsoever remains now of the body youpossessed ten years ago. Your present physiqueis an entirely new one. If all the parts of your

22

body severed from you over the last ten yearswere to be gathered together, then another humanbeing—identical to yourself could be constructed.If you are a hundred years old, then ten ‘yous’could be formed which, despite their exactsimilarity to you in appearance, would be no morethan inanimate lumps of flesh, for ‘you’ do notdwell within them. ‘You’ have abandoned theseold bodies and moulded yourself into a new frame.So the saga of construction and destruction isconstantly being enacted within ‘you’ withoutany evident change occurring. That entity whichyou call yourself remains as it was. If you hadentered into a contract with someone ten yearsago, you would continue to admit that ‘you’committed yourself in this manner, although yourprevious frame is now non-existent. Neither thehands, which signed the contract papers, nor thetongue which testified to it, are any longerattached to your body. Nevertheless ‘you’ stillexist, and ‘you’ acknowledge the fact that thisten-year old contract was your own and continue

23

to abide by it. This is that inward human being atwork, which, far from altering with bodilytransformation, survives countless physicalchanges absolutely intact. We can therefore saythat the word ‘homo sapiens’, rather than beinga label attached to a certain physical form, whichis erased with its death, is a separate entity, whichremains intact even after the diffusion of thebody’s composite parts. The fact that the bodyalters whereas the soul does not is conclusiveproof of the transitional nature of the body andthe eternal nature of the soul.

Some misguided people even consider ‘life’and ‘death’ to be the ‘accumulation’ and thesubsequent ‘diffusion’ of multitudinous particlesof matter as expounded by an Urdu poet,Chakbast, in the following words:

Zindagi kya hai, anasir mein zahoor-e-tarteebMauwt kya hai, inhi ajza ka pareshan honaWhat is life? Elements arranging themselves

in order, and death? Their diffusion.This, statement is however not borne out by

24

fact. If life were simply ‘elements arrangingthemselves in order,’ then it follows that it shouldsurvive only so long as this orderliness endured,and it should conversely be possible for an expertscientist to create life by an accumulation ofthese elements; obviously, both thesepropositions are preposterous. We observe thatit is not only those who have been torn limbfrom limb in some accident, who die. In everycondition and at every age people are passingaway.

Sometimes perfectly healthy human beingssuffer sudden heart failure and die and no doctorcan provide an explanation for this. We mayregard a corpse as an ‘orderly, elementalmanifestation,’ but the soul, which inhabited it,has departed. All elements are arranged in thesame order as they were a few minutesbeforehand, but they are utterly lifeless. Thisshows that the organization of elemental matterdoes not create life; rather life is an entirelyseparate entity.

25

A living human being cannot be produced in alaboratory, though such a physical form canreadily be formulated. We have ascertained thatthe particles that compose a living body consistof normal atoms. The carbon in it is the same asthat found in charcoal, its hydrogen and oxygenare the same as that which constitute water, itsnitrogen is exactly the same gas as that whichaccounts for most of the atmosphere, and soon. But is it true to say that a living human beingis a specific collection of ordinary atoms thathave been arranged in an extraordinary way?Or is it something else besides this? Scientistsadmit that although we know that the body isfabricated of certain material particles, we arestill not in a position to create life just bycombining these same particles. This proves thatthe body of a living human being is not just aconglomerate of inanimate atoms. It is rather acombination of ‘life’ and ‘atoms’. After death,the conglomerate of ‘atoms’ remains visible tous, while ‘life’ departs for another world.

26

Clearly, ‘life’ is not something, which can beeliminated. When we grasp that life is somethingwith eternal properties, we can appreciate justhow rational and natural the ‘life-after-death’theory is. The facts cry out that life does notconsist merely of what can be seen prior todeath. Therefore, there must be a life after deathalso. Our intellect accepts the transient natureof this world, and the fact that man is a being,which survives it. When we die, we do not passinto oblivion, rather we retire to reside in anotherworld.

Understanding this, most people now-a-daysdo believe in God and in the afterworld. It is notas if they deny these things; however theiractions bear no relation to their belief. Inpractice, all that people are concerned about is‘worldly success’. Let us understand this withthe help of an example: if we were told that theearth’s gravitational pull had ceased to exist andthat the planet was being pulled towards the sunat a speed of 6,000 m.p.h., can you think what

27

would happen? There would definitely be a totaland complete panic in the entire world, as thiswould imply that within a few weeks all lifewould be obliterated from the face of the earth.

However, no one realizes that this world isperpetually facing a peril much greater than this.What is this peril? It is the peril of the Last Dayin which man will be called to account for hisdeeds in this world. The Day, which has beendestined for the world since the creation of theuniverse, which we are all careering towards ata reckless speed. As an article of faith, most ofus accept this reality, but there are indeed veryfew who actually feel compelled to give it seriousthought and even less who feel the need toprepare for the afterworld.

28

How Will We Be Judged?To understand how we will be ‘judged’, it isimportant to understand that human actions fallinto one of two categories. The first comprisesof matters in which no ‘moral’ choice has to bemade. These are purely accidental happeningswhose outcome, whether good or bad, cannotbe judged from a moral standpoint because theycontained no ‘purposeful’ element. The secondcategory is very different in nature because itcovers a wide and complex range of actions—the ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ of which have to bescrupulously and purposefully considered beforebeing carried out. This is known as the ‘ethicalcategory’.

To understand the difference between the twolet us take the example of a stone balancedprecariously on the branch of a tree. If you walkunder it, it falls and hits you, subsequently youfind yourself badly injured. Do you strike thetree and bear a grudge against it? Of course not!But suppose a man picks up a stone, throws it

29

at you with the intention of injuring you andactually does so, won’t you become enragedand feel an urge to retaliate in like manner? Youwould be perfectly justified in feeling that thiswrong should be ‘punished’ because the act was‘intentional.’ Here it is a question not just of somerandom happening, but of right and wrongaction, good and bad intentions, in a word, of‘ethics’.

The examples chosen to clarify this point areof a simple nature in that the outcome of theaction is immediately apparent and, moreover,in the second case, it is possible to make aninstant moral judgment. But there are other muchmore complex situations in life wherewrongdoing goes undetected, its effects maybe hidden or delayed for long periods, and theculprits may never be brought to book either bymoral condemnation of society or in a court oflaw. Sometimes evildoing is, of course, perceivedas such, but the miscreant is so clever andresourceful that he is able to escape punishment,

30

or the human resources required to inflictpunishment are lacking and so the evildoer goesscot-free. Crimes are often repeated for justsuch reasons. But the perpetrator of evil shouldnot congratulate himself too soon on the successof his schemes or on his ability to escape, for itis exactly this type of action that he will be calledto account for by his Creator on the Day ofJudgment. Everyone, no matter from what walkof life he hails, will be required to stand beforehis Maker and lay his life absolutely bare beforeHim. On the basis of the actions which fall intothe ‘ethical category’, where moral precepts orscruples, are of overriding importance, he willeither be ushered into Paradise or cast down intothe flaming pits of Hell. If all this was kept hiddenfrom him in this world, it was because it wasGod’s plan to put man on ‘trial’. If he knew aboutall this, his trial would have been meaningless.

Every action of man has some consequencesfor him and every state that he finds himself inprecipitates a ‘favourable’ or ‘unfavourable’

31

reaction. He then ‘makes’ or ‘breaks’ himselfdepending upon how he reacts to these situationsand the manner in which he employs his faculties.If he reacts ‘favourably’, he passes the test andif he reacts ‘unfavourably’, he fails the test.

What is the Afterworld?The afterworld is therefore, the place where manwill reap the full consequences of his deedsaccording to their moral nature. When we thinkof the afterworld, a few questions arise at thisjuncture: How can man apprehend the existenceof this afterworld and what should he do toprepare for it?

To answer this, let us take the example of sound.For instance, everyone knows that sound is thename of waves that cannot be seen with the nakedeye and human voice is the result of the motion ofour tongues and larynxes. These sounds and voicesform a kind of invisible pattern that is imprinted onthe atmosphere. According to scientific theory,any sound or voice uttered by a human being, even

32

thousands of years ago, still exists in waveform,though we do not hear or see these waves. If,however, we possessed the apparatus to detectthem, they could be replayed exactly, in their originalform, and many would be the historic discussionupon which we could then eavesdrop. Just as weare enveloped by a blanket of air on which, everysound and word of ours is engraved, eventhough we neither see the air nor the inscription,so the other world is also enveloping us on allfour sides and constantly recording ourintentions and designs. Our actions are beingimprinted upon its fold and after death; they willbe there for all to read. Imagine a recordrevolving mutely on its turntable. As soon as theneedle falls into its groove, the silent disc burstsinto music as if it had just been waiting to expressthe sounds recorded on it. In the same way, a‘record’ of all our deeds is being prepared andwhen the Lord of the Universe utters the wordof command, the whole record will be playedback to us. On hearing it people will involuntarily

33

say: ‘What sort of a book is this which hasomitted neither the smallest nor the greatest ofmatters?’ (The Quran 18:49).

The Concept of AccountabilityGod is indispensable to man. His life is incompletewithout God. A philosopher has aptly remarkedthat had there been no God, we would have hadto invent one. Fortunately, God exists in reality.We can believe in God with conviction, not as asupposition, but as a fact. And we can accordHim the place He deserves in our lives. It isessential that man should have within his reach,a super formula for life’s management. Godprovides just such a formula—a completeprinciple for life’s management.

Human beings are not like machines controlledby a mechanical system, nor are they like animalsthat are governed by their instincts. Humanbeings enjoy freedom. They take decisions abouttheir actions of their own free will. Now thequestion arises as to how to keep man on the

34

right course, how to make him consistentlydisciplined in his behaviour. History shows theineffectiveness of all worldly measures in thisconnection, whether—social pressures,enforcement of the law of the land or the appealsof reformers.

Experience shows that the pressure of societyis limited, if not totally ineffective. There are somany loopholes in the law that it is not difficultfor wrongdoers to find a way out. Thereformers’ bid to reform people are nothing butappeals and appeals alone cannot bring about arevolution in human life.

The truth is that for the attainment ofdisciplined behaviour, it is essential for one tobe convinced of the existence of a power farsuperior to himself, a Being who is aware ofman’s activities at every moment; who canreward and punish man, and from whom it isimpossible to escape.

There can be only one being of this natureand that is God. Belief in God functions at two

35

levels at the same time. On the one hand, manfinds in God a guardian who is aware of all hisactivities and who has unlimited power tochastise him. It is not possible for man to escapeGod’s chastisement. Belief in God compels manto steadfastly adopt a proper attitude in allsituations, privately as well as publicly. Only thencan he save himself from the wrath of God.

Another point is that belief in God is astorehouse of limitless hope. Man can lead hislife in this world with the conviction that if heincurs any loss because of treading the path oftruth, or if he suffers from any other adversity,he will be able manfully to endure it. For if headheres to the path of truth, God will grant hima reward in the form of eternal paradise, andthere can be no reward greater than this. It isnot possible for man on his own to bind himselfto moral values or adhere to justice. This ispossible only when he is convinced of the factthat he is under a super power—a super powerwho observes justice to the extent of perfection;

36

for whom it is fully possible to guide man to thetrue path and also punish those who deviate fromthis true path. This present, limited world istotally inadequate for punishing a criminal.Similarly, this world is also inadequate forgranting great rewards for one’s good deeds.The concept of God tells us that God can createa far better world free from all the limitations ofthe present world, where reward and punishmentboth can be satisfactorily awarded.

The concept of a living and powerful God isnecessarily accompanied by the concept ofaccountability. And the concept of accountabilityguarantees right thinking and right actions onthe part of man. It makes man cautious byreminding him of God’s chastisement. Moreover,this gives him the conviction of receiving God’sreward if he adheres to the right path at all costsand in all situations.

The concept of God provides man with anideology in which loss is turned to gain and inwhich adversity brings with it good tidings.

37

Man, Realize the RealityJust think this over for a few minutes: You aredestined for an extremely long and unbrokenlifespan. Death is by no means the terminationof this life: it is the commencement of a newera. Death is simply the dividing-point betweenthe two stages of our life. Take the farmer’splanting of a crop as an example. He invests hiscapital in it and cultivates it, until such times asthe crop ripens and dries up. Then he harvestsit so that he can use the grain and store it up forhis year’s requirements. Harvest is the end ofone phase in the crop’s development, duringwhich time planting and cultivation had takenplace. Before the cutting of the crop there hadbeen only toil and expense, it is afterwards thathe will enjoy the fruits of his efforts.

This is the case with our life also. In this worldwe are investing in and cultivating our afterworldcrop. Each one of us owns a field that is eitherbeing cultivated or left barren. We have used aseed that is either productive or mediocre. After

38

sowing our crop, we have either attended to itor neglected it. Either we have cultivated thorns,or else flowers and fruits have blossomed inour garden. We have either expended our energieson the improvement of our crop, or we havewasted our time in unnecessary and irrelevantoccupations. The period of preparation of thiscrop lasts until death. The day of our death isharvest-day. When our eyes close on this world,they will open on the afterlife, and there, thecrop that we have been busy cultivating all ourlives will appear before us.

Remember that the person who does thefarming is the one who does the harvesting, andhe will reap only the crop that he has sown.Likewise in the afterworld, everybody will reapthe harvest he had prepared for himself prior tohis death. Every farmer knows full well that hewill take as much grain to the granary as he hasgrown, and that the crop can never be otherthan the one he has sowed. Likewise, in theafterworld, man will be recompensed according

39

to the nature of his efforts in the world. Deathis the final announcement of the termination ofthe time allotted to him for struggle andendeavour, and the afterworld is the final placein which he will be able to experience the resultsthereof. After death there will be no furtheropportunity to struggle and it must be borne inmind that the afterlife will never terminate.

What a critical matter this is! If only man couldcome to a mature understanding of this beforehe died. Becoming aware of the truth only afterdeath is too late, because his later realization willbe of no avail. There is no time then to considerthe gravity of one’s errors, no time for repentanceand certainly no time for expiations.

Mankind is oblivious of his destiny, while timeis pressing him with the utmost speed towardsthe harvesting of his crop. He is busily engagedin procuring paltry worldly profits, andconsiders himself worthily occupied, whereas,in fact, he is just frittering away his precioustime. He has before him a superb opportunity to

40

ensure a prosperous future for himself, butinstead, he chooses to occupy himself withunimportant and trivial things. His Lord is callinghim towards Paradise, a place of endless honourand bliss, while he, in his ignorance, is immersedin ephemeral and delusive pleasures. He reckonsthat he is saving, but in fact he is squandering.While constructing his worldly mansion, he islabouring under the illusion that he is buildingfor his life: while in fact, he is erecting walls ofsand that will crumble away to nothing.

Man! Realize what you are doing and whatyou ought to be doing.

41

God Oriented LifeThe Earth is the sun’s satellite. It constantlyorbits around the sun. It takes one year tocomplete such a rotation. This movement of theearth around the sun is essential for the healthyfunctioning of life on earth. If the earth did notrevolve around the sun, its existence would haveno meaning, and life would come to an end.

This is a practical example of how we shouldlead our lives in this world. This example isindeed a physical demonstration that shows howman must revolve around God, just as the earthrevolves around the sun. It means that all ofman’s activities should be based on God.

The earth rotates as compelled to by the lawsof nature. But man, of his own free will, shouldsurrender to God. He should build a life, whichis based on the concept of God. Thisconsciousness is the real ascension of man. Inthis consciousness lies the secret of all success.A God-oriented life begins with the discoveryof God. When individuals, whether men or

42

women, discover God, it means that they havefound the truth. And this truth pervades theirwhole being. This feeling of having discoveredthe truth becomes such a thrilling experiencethat it fills them with everlasting conviction. Thiseverlasting conviction removes all frustrationsfrom their lives. Therefore, losses are no longersuch, for, in spite of them, they never lose thefeeling that their greatest asset, i.e. God, is stillwith them.

Man experiences this realization by ponderingupon God’s creations. The present universe isan expression of God’s attributes. It is acomplete introduction to God. God is visible inHis creations, just as clearly as a human beingsees his own reflection in the mirror.

The vastness of space tells man that God, itsCreator, is boundless. The observation of thesun and the stars shows us that God is all light.The heights of the mountains show us thegreatness of God. The waves of the sea and the

43

flow of the river tell us that God is a storehouseof boundless blessings. We see God’s bounty inthe greenery of the trees. Man’s existencebecomes a proof of God’s existence. In the waftof air he experiences a Divine touch. In thechirping of the birds, he hears God’s songs.

For man, a God-oriented life starts by hisremembering God. He begins to feel the presenceof God. Everything serves to remind him of God.God’s remembrance is never absent from hisheart and mind. His mornings and evenings arespent as if he is living in God’s neighbourhood.Just as rain replenishes the crops, so does heremain ever immersed in the remembrance ofGod.

God is a spiritual focus for man. One whoseheart is attached to God undergoes spiritualexperiences at every moment. Belief in Godbecomes a source of spiritual development forhim. Filled with the love of God, he does notneed anything further. God becomes a vast ocean

44

for him to continue to swim in without everexperiencing any limit. In the form of spiritualawakening, he receives such great wealth thathe does not feel any need for anything else.

For one who discovers God, the entireuniverse becomes an open book of God for him.Every leaf of a tree becomes a page of the divinebook.

When he sees the sun, he feels as if God islighting His heavenly torch so that he may readHis book clearly. The Universe becomes, as itwere, a supernal university and he its student.

Finding God is to find his centre of Love. Manby birth is a seeker of a Supreme Being who isfar above him, who is free from all limitationsand who may form the centre of his feelings, inshort, a Being after finding whom a grown manbecomes as satisfied as a child after being heldin the arms of his mother. This discovery ofGod saves one from regarding something otherthan God as God and mistakenly and

45

unrealistically thinking it to be the answer to theurge inherent in his nature. The discovery ofGod is to fulfill his or her real urge to find God.And the failure to discover God means failing tofind that which is man’s greatest need.

One who fails to find God is compelled by hisnatural urge to give the place of God tosomething other than God. This place issometimes accorded to a certain human being,sometimes to a certain animal, sometimes to aphenomenon of nature, sometimes to a certainmaterial power, sometimes to a certain supposedconcept and sometimes just to the self.

Even if one fails to discover God, or hebecomes a denier of God, it is not in his or herpower to stifle the urge in his nature to findGod. That is why those men and women whohave not found God inevitably come to holdsomething other than God as God. And thissupposed God is always some creature or theother of God. By nature, it is possible for man

46

not to accept the real God as God, but it is notpossible for anyone to save himself or herselffrom granting the status of divinity to somethingother than God. Making God one’s object ofworship raises man’s position. On the contrary,regarding something other than God as Godamounts to descending from the level ofhumanity.

Submission to God is the only way of life forboth man and the universe.

● ● ●

Watch Maulana Wahiduddin Khan onETV Urdu on Wednesdays and

Thursdays at 10.30 pm.

47

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan isa spiritual scholar, who hasadopted peace as the missionof his life. Well known forhis balanced views, he hasbeen actively involved, fordecades, in promoting peace

and spirituality in order to usher in global peaceand unity.

In 2001, he founded CPS International—Centre for Peace and Spirituality. CPS is a non-profit, non-political organization that promotesthe culture of peace through mind-basedspirituality and undertakes inter-faith dialogue.

CPS uses every available media—like lectures,conferences, one-on-one sessions, articles in theprint media, television content, and websites—to propagate the message of peace worldwide bytraining individuals in spiritual principles.

If you have any questions, please feel free to giveus a call at +91 9810558483.

To order books, CDs, DVDs online and to listen,watch and download free audios and videos,please visit the following websites:

www.cpsglobal.orgwww.alrisala.orgwww.wkhan.net

www.goodwordbooks.com

Please visit our bookstore at the following address:

CPS International1, Nizamuddin West Market

New Delhi 110013Tel. +9111 2435 6666, 2435 5454

Fax: +9111 2435 7333e-mail: info@cps.org.in

info@goodwordbooks.com(Open from Mon-Sat from 9.30 am to 7 pm)

This booklet is free from copyright. It may be translatedand published without prior permission.

Printed by Chaudary Offset, New Delhi

Man is born with unlimited potential, yetMan is born with unlimited potential, yet

in the present world he finds only a veryin the present world he finds only a very

limited use for it.limited use for it. According to his nature,According to his nature,

man wants to live eternallyman wants to live eternally, but very, but very

soon, without his leave, death arrives andsoon, without his leave, death arrives and

puts an end to his life. He harbours anputs an end to his life. He harbours an

ocean of desires in his heart, but theseocean of desires in his heart, but these

desires are never fulfilled. He houses adesires are never fulfilled. He houses a

life of dreams in his mind, but theselife of dreams in his mind, but these

dreams are never realized. In this case,dreams are never realized. In this case,

there is no difthere is no difference between a poor manference between a poor man

and a rich man.and a rich man. Why are man and theWhy are man and the

present world so mismatched?present world so mismatched?

cpsInternationalCentre for Peace & SpiritualityCentre for Peace & Spirituality goodwordbooks.comgoodwordbooks.com