Page 86 - Quick Grasp of Faith 2

77. Can man be assured of entering Paradise
while he is in this world?

No one can be sure of entering Paradise while he is still
in the world. Allah tells us that man should be filled both
with fear and with hope stating "... pray to Him with fear
and hope..." (Surat al-A'raf: 56). Everyone should try to at-
tain the good pleasure of Allah by trying their utmost to ful-
fil the commands of the Qur'an, and by implementing the

good conduct approved by Allah in every moment of one's
life. In return for these efforts he can hope for Paradise, yet
can never be absolutely certain of it.

78. Who are the "ruling elite" mentioned in the
Qur'an?
Each time messengers called their people to the religion
of Allah, there has always been a section who opposed them,
trying to impede their actions and causing difficulties for be-
lievers. The Qur'an tells us that these people were mainly
among the ruling elite of that community. This is because of
the fact that these people possess wealth, power and author-
ity within their society. The reason for their furious opposi-
tion to the messengers of Allah is that they worry about
losing this worldly power, and the influence and reputation
they hold. It is stated in the Qur'an that there will be such
people in every age:

And likewise in every city We set up its greatest
wrongdoers to plot in it. They plot against them-
selves alone, but they are not aware of it. (Surat al-
An'am: 123)
In fact these people, too, being people created by Allah

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