Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 262
! ! 262 that spirit that I yearn for has not been cultivated within them. I do not see any woman among you who is capable o f leading and guiding you. Alas! W hat effort should I employ so you may awaken ? There is a fire raging in the world, yet there you lie in a deep stupor. Does Anyone among you Know t he Holy Qur’ān ? A few days ago, I pos ed a question to the women here ; c an you name any woman [from amongst you] who has studied the Holy Qur’ān thoughtfully and has herself uncovered a profound meaning or aspect from within it ? E xcludi ng scholars, there are many men who are apparently uneducated or minimally educated , yet whether they live in a town or in rural area s despite their apparent lack of knowledge , they can explain many profound facets of the Holy Qur’ān which people were unaware of before. M en from Qadian, many who are u nfamiliar with Arabic, can relate several wonderfully astute and meaningful points from the Holy Qur’ān. Give me one example of a woman who has uncovered something new from the Holy Qur’ān and presented the world with something it was previously unaware of. Additionally, t here are even some women present among you , who others call maulvi s. Once again, I emphasize [this point] and ask you : w h o among you has been blessed with the understanding of the Holy Qur’ān ? What is the Reason f or t his Shortcoming? There are many women among you who say men are more favored. Yet , I ask you , d oes God Almighty h arbor hostility towards you? Does He refuse to help you? I s the door to understanding the w ord of God shut upon you and do the angels not help you access the court of God? What is the reason for this? The only reason is that you do not read the Holy Qur’ān as the Holy Qur’ān should be read and you do not realize that it contains knowledge, value, and wisdom. You re ad it only as a divine Book which you are required to read. For this reason, the door to its wisdom is closed to you. Heed the following point well. T he Holy Qur’ān is God’s book, and it holds all knowledge. The Holy Qur’ān does not exist so that you may gain Heaven by reading it or Hell by not reading it; rather Allah says :