FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Dr. Farida Khanam has been a professor at the Department of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. A Study of World's Major Religions, A Simple Guide to Sufism are two of the books amongst others, of which she is the author. She has also translated many books on Islam authored by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Currently, the chairperson of Centre for Peace and Spirituality (CPS International), an organization founded by her father Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, she is a regular contributor of articles to journals, newspapers and magazines. Dr. Khanam has edited Maulana’s English translation of the Quran and has also translated his Urdu commentary of the Quran into English. Under Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Peace Foundation, along with the CPS team, she has designed a series of courses on peace-building, countering extremism and conflict resolution. QURAN AND HADITH D URING interactions with people in inter-faith programmes, I have come across questions where people wish to know if the Quran contains the teachings of the Prophet. The Quran and the Hadith are the two fundamental scriptures of Islam and it is imperative that people have an understanding of their sources if they wish to know Islam. The Quran is the Book of God. God is the sole author of this book. There are about 6500 verses in the Quran revealed over a period of 23 years. The Prophet received these revelations from God and they were immediately memorized and put to writing. It has been preserved in its entirety for all time to come. The objective of the Quran is to make man aware of the creation plan of God. That is, to tell man why God created this world; what is the purpose of settling man on earth; what is required from man in his pre-death lifespan, and what he is going to confront after death. The Quran is a book of divine warning. A combination of lessons and admonitions, it would be even more appropriately called a book of wisdom. Teachings of the Prophet are known as Hadith and is totally separate from the Quran. Hadith meaning a ‘statement’ or ‘report’ is used as an Islamic term for the records kept of the words and deeds of the