Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 162
! ! 162 not have the tools. Or the tools are available , but they lack the knowledge in using them. For example, a man is sick and hopes to get well. Which sick person would not wish to recover from his illness ? Yet, [what can be done if] such a person lives in a jungle where there is no healer or doctor available. O r if by chance , one is available, but the patient has no money to pay him. Or if he does have the means to pay but there is no available medication. Thus, merely having the desire or passion to recover from an illness will not cure him. Similarly, at t imes the desire is there, but the man does not possess the means. O r he may have the desire and the means, but he does not know how to utilize it , thus both his longing and means are of no avail. For this, it is necessary to have longing in one’s heart, passion , and the means and knowledge to utilize those resources. This is the condition of our women. I see that their hearts yearn to attain religious knowledge and Islam , but they do not possess the means for attaining this goal. No matter how much desire and zeal one possesses in serving God , it will not be enough , until th e means and methods to do so are made available. The women’s role in our community is such that until they are fully educated and morally trained , I believe that the community will face a great hindrance in making progress and advancing spiritually. It would be analogous to a man who owns a diamond and without recognizing its true purpose, throws it away as if it were a marble. I remember one time when I was in Bombay [Mumbai] and a man was being prosecuted for purchasing stolen diamonds. The fact was that a sachet of diamonds had fallen out of a jew eler’s pocket as he was walking , and a boy found the sachet of about fifteen or sixteen diamonds. He thought they were glass trinkets , al though they were worth millions. One man spotted the diamonds and bought them at four a penny. The boy neither realized what he had, nor what its true purpose was. Thus, no matter how preciou s a thing we hold in our hands, if we neither recognize it as such, nor understand how to use it, then it has no value. It saddens me to say that although our women are zealous, they long to meet God, and are eager to work in