The Sacred Texts

be a testing ground, specially designed for the trial of mankind, for God wants to see whether people are capable of leading their lives in accordance with His will. It is their conduct on earth that will determine whether or 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. Hadith provides the second fundamental source of Islam, giving us a full account of the life of the Prophet, and serving as a commentary on the Quran. The Quran principally deals with basics. It is the Hadith which gives the details and necessary explanations of Quranic injunctions. For instance, the Quran says: “Establish the service of worship.” But it does not specify how the worship has to be performed. Not even the timings and units of prayers (rak‘ahs) are clearly mentioned. We need the traditions set forth in the Hadith to have full information on this. Even after knowing the details, it might still not have been possible to follow the divine injunctions contained in the Quran. For not everything can be properly understood by words alone. Therefore, the Prophet demonstrated to the faithful how prayer was to be performed. He said to the believers: “Look at me, see how I worship, and follow me.”