Muslims, Christians and people of other faiths should work together to show God's compassion in a world of destitution and injustice, an Islamic and a Christian scholar have declared.

The Charter for Compassion seeks to bring people together across the varieties of global faith and belief, in recognition of the fact that "in separateness lies the world’s great misery, in compassion lies the world’s true strength."

Mercy cannot be earned, says Jill Segger. It is not a quid pro quo. It is pure gift and whenever we exercise it, we come closer to the Divine nature. The Ali al-Megrahi case makes us uncomfortable about this - and necessarily so.