The Key and the Price of Paradise

In a different hadith the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that lā ilāha illallāh is the key, miftāḥ, of Paradise. Everybody carries a bunch of keys in their pocket, and without the key required for a particular lock, a person may stand there until the Day of Judgment and that key will not open that lock — no matter how many times it is put in, changed, put in again and changed again. The grooves and the teeth have to match. The Prophet (peace be upon him) says that the matching grooves and matching teeth of the key to Paradise are lā ilāha illallāh.