What are heaven and hell, and where are they?

Heaven and hell are not places on a map but spiritual realities of another dimension, according to the Holy Qur’an as vast as the whole universe. They already begin in this life, because people shape them through their own deeds.

Think of the radio waves in this room. They fill it completely, and yet we can neither see, hear nor feel them. Only a radio makes them audible. If things of our own world can exist unnoticed beside us, how much more can realities of other dimensions exist in the same space without our perceiving them.

This is how the Holy Qur’an describes paradise and hell. According to the first verse above, paradise spans the heavens and the earth, the whole universe. For people at that time this was an astonishing statement. Both exist side by side without touching each other.

Paradise and hell are therefore above all states of the soul. Nearness to God is a deep joy for someone who loves goodness. For someone who has turned away from goodness, that same nearness becomes an inner burning. The third verse above says that this fire rises over the hearts.

So where does paradise begin? Within a person, and already here. Whoever sincerely submits to the will of God and creates peace for others tastes something of paradise in this life. Whoever makes life a hell for others cannot expect to find paradise after death.

But whoever has done good to people on earth may hope in God with a quiet heart. God is kinder than any human being, and He does not deny paradise to someone who has truly given himself to Him.