Ch 24 — Two Categories of Paradise

Badges mark quoted or attributed material (Qur'an, hadith, another author, an opposing view). Unbadged passages are Maulana Wahiduddin Khan's own words.

Contents (44 chapters)

1. Foreword
2. Ch 1 — The Majesty of God in the Vast Universe
3. Ch 2 — The Consciousness in Human Nature of God's Existence
4. Ch 3 — The Omnipotent God and Helpless Man
5. Ch 4 — Glorification of God
6. Ch 5 — Consciousness in Nature
7. Ch 6 — Limitless Majesty of God
8. Ch 7 — Relationship with God
9. Ch 8 — Two Aspects of God-Realization
10. Ch 9 — The Importance of the Fear of God
11. Ch 10 — Loving God the Most
12. Ch 11 — Love, Obedience
13. Ch 12 — Love of God
14. Ch 13 — Closeness to God
15. Ch 14 — Two Levels of Realization (Maarifah)
16. Ch 15 — Making God One's Supreme Concern
17. Ch 16 — Submission to God
18. Ch 17 — Acknowledgement of God
19. Ch 18 — Cause of the Failure to Love God
20. Ch 19 — Praise Be to God (Alhamdulillah)
21. Ch 20 — The Source of the Love of God
22. Ch 21 — The Price of the Love of God
23. Ch 22 — Strong, Emotional Attachment to God
24. Ch 23 — Real Love, Relative Love
25. Ch 24 — Two Categories of Paradise
26. Ch 25 — Intense Love of God
27. Ch 26 — Strong Believer, Weak Believer
28. Ch 27 — People Worth Envying
29. Ch 28 — Sacred Narration
30. Ch 29 — A Case of Exceptional Mercy
31. Ch 30 — God in Our Hearts
32. Ch 31 — The Remembrance of God
33. Ch 32 — Two Lifestyles
34. Ch 33 — The Power of Helplessness
35. Ch 34 — Crying in Remembrance of God
36. Ch 35 — The Spirit of Religion
37. Ch 36 — God's Pleasure, Man's Pleasure
38. Ch 37 — Initial Hamd (Praise), Ultimate Hamd
39. Ch 38 — Thankfulness and Acknowledgement
40. Ch 39 — The High Degree of the Divine Experience
41. Ch 40 — The Feelings of Worship
42. Ch 41 — The Experience of God
43. Ch 42 — Seeking God's Pleasure
44. Ch 43 — In the Company of God

TWO CATEGORIES OF PARADISE p. 56

Those who have made God their supreme concern, live in the presence of God at a psychological level. Then their thinking becomes God-oriented in the full sense. p. 56

The Quran says of the people of Paradise that they will find themselves “in the seat of truth with an all-powerful sovereign.” (54:55) p. 56Qur'an

This verse and other verses from the Quran indicate that there are two categories of Paradise. One Paradise is near and the other Paradise is far away. The Paradise which is close at hand will be in the neighbourhood of God and it is here that those people will be lodged who have attained a high level of realization. The Paradise which is far away is that which is distant from the neighbourhood of God. The people of Paradise who are of a general category will find a place in this latter Paradise. That is, the true believers of the general category will find a place in the far off Paradise and not in the nearby Paradise. p. 56original + quote

The Quran has this to say about people who have attained God-realization: “those who believe love God most.” (2:165) These realised souls have discovered God as the most superior Being, and acknowledge Him as such in the innermost recesses of their hearts and minds. p. 57original + quote

They have truly dedicated themselves to God and God has become their supreme concern. Their thinking has become God-oriented in the full sense. p. 57

Those who develop this kind of relationship with God begin to live in the presence of God, that is, they begin to live in the vicinity of God in this world itself, apprehending such proximity at a psychological level. In the hereafter they will have the same experience but as a material reality. If they have been experiencing closeness to God in the life of this world itself, in the hereafter they will be blessed with a far greater degree of closeness to Him. p. 57