The Sacred Texts

not they are deserving of Paradise in the next, eternal stage of life after death. According to the Quran, Paradise is another name for God’s neighbourhood, and in this neighbourhood only those who are sincere in their belief in God and have compassion and love for God’s servants will find acceptance. God has the same compassionate relationship with every man as a father has with all his children. Therefore, it is alien to the divine scheme of creation that this earthly plane should be marred by hatred, killing and violence. It is God’s most cherished desire that love should be returned for hatred, and violence should be met with peace. The Hadith and Sunnah Hadith, meaning a “statement” or “report”, is used as an Islamic term for the records kept of the sayings and doings of the Prophet Muhammad. Sunnah means the actions the Prophet himself performed, or actions he asked his followers to perform. The Hadith is a record of the Sunnah.