Loving God and showing kindness to others are among the essential parts of faith and steps to Paradise.

Some mistakenly believe this is sufficient and no further steps are necessary.

Did God create people and leave them without guidance?

Or did He create them then leave them on their own to decide what is right and what is wrong?

Does mankind know what is best?

Does mankind have divine wisdom?

From which authority does he get his claim that loving God and doing well is enough for one to enter Paradise?

How Did God Impart Guidance to Mankind?

The answer is easy!

God chose Prophets from among all nations to convey His guidance of essential issues like codes of conduct, worship and other elements, knowledge of which is necessary for humans to live a peaceful life and coexist with each other.

He further made the awareness of reward and punishment as a necessary element of one’s belief, not for the sake of control, but to show His justice.

Man must know that his conduct will not go unchecked and that every action, thought and intention is recorded and compensated with reward and punishment- some in this life, but all in the afterlife.

One might say, anyone could impart certain codes of conduct that appeals to human logic, why should we be so concerned about only commandments that God imparts to mankind? In other words, there is plenty of good guidance- thought of, and written by man. Why does it have to be from God? What makes God’s instruction to human different than human to human?

To answer this, we may have to pay attention to the first of God’s commandments. This is what sets His rules apart from that of human beings, even with all their good intentions.

God has been sending Prophets and Messengers to humankind in order to invite them to the worship of Him alone; to order them not to ascribe partners unto Him and to bring them out of the darkness of polytheism and into the light of Monotheism. This was their first task, followed by various codes of belief and conducts for successful and peaceful living as mentioned above.

Many verses in the Quran point to the same direction:

{And verily We sent forth among every community a messenger [to say]: ‘Worship God and shun false deities’. Then among them were some whom God guided, and among them were some who deserved to be in error.} (16: 36)

So the aim of sending these Prophets and Messengers to mankind and jinn (a being created from smokeless flames) was only that they should worship God alone, as God says:

{And I did not create the jinn and mankind except that they may worship Me.} (51: 56)

Each Prophet was sent unto his own nation to guide them, but the Message of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the last messenger, was general for all mankind and jinn:

{Say (O Muhammad) ‘O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah.’} (7: 158)

And to worship God means to obey Him and to do all that He has ordained, and to fear Him by abstaining from all that He has forbidden. Thus, those who obey God will be rewarded with Paradise, and those who disobey Him will be punished in the Hell-fire.

So, those who claim that love of God and mankind is a passport to Paradise, take heed about your judgment, thoughts, decisions and the path you take, as God swears in the Quran what can be translated as:

{Nay, and by the moon, And by the night when it withdraws, And by the dawn when it brightens, Verily, it is but one of the greatest calamities. A warning to mankind, To any of you that chooses to go forward (by doing righteous deeds), or to remain behind (by committing sins), Every person is beheld (accountable) on his own deeds.} (74: 32-8)

Thus, loving God means obeying His commandments as well as obeying His messengers and all that He enjoined upon us. Some verses are as follows:

{Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and beware (of evil): if ye do turn back, know ye that it is Our Messenger’s duty to proclaim (the Message) in the clearest manner.} (5: 92)

{O ye who believe! obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: that is best, and most suitable for final determination.} (4: 59)

{Say: “Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger: but if ye turn away, he is only responsible for the duty placed on him and ye for that placed on you. If ye obey him, ye shall be on right guidance.} (24: 54)

{And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, Allah shall admit him in the Gardens underneath which rivers flow.} (4: 13)

{And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, he has won a great success.} (33: 71)

{And we sent no messenger, but that he should be obeyed by the leave of Allah.} (4: 64)

So a good doer, unless he knows the commandments of God and His prophet and incorporates them in his life, thoughts and actions, he is greatly mistaken.

Thus, loving God entails knowing and obeying His commandments and His messenger. One may take the position that love of God and mankind is enough and thus shun all other commandments. This person is among those who need sincere advice and encouragement to take a few further steps to move this good thought and intention to its ultimate destination of loving God, on His term and not one’s own.

This is the door to Paradise, God willing.