Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 27
! ! 27 Address to the Ladies Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra October 6, 1917 , in Shimla, India Important Advice for Women In this age, t he first and the foremost exhort ation women must pay heed to is that in matters of religion they are just as bound by and required to comply with the laws of Shariah , as men are. These days, we face a great problem. W omen have it ingrained with in their minds that they are i n capable of participating in religious concerns. There are many women who believe it is their husband ’ s responsibility to participate in religious matters. Consequently, at this time , the faith of women is no longer unshakable. Ninety five percent of women, or perhaps even more, have accepted religion not because of its truthfulness, but because of their husbands. Today, if the man is Shia , then the woman is Shia as well. I f the man is Sunni, the woman is Sunni as well. Tomorrow , if the man converts from being a Shia to Sunni , the woman will also convert to be c ome a Sunni. Her religion is constantly subject to change, depend e nt upon her husband’s choice of religion. Due to this ignorance and lack of understanding, women are bereft of faith. Ponder over the fact that a person never fear s a n image of a lion , because they know it cannot cause any harm. Similarly, fire will only cook food if it is real fire. I f it is a picture , it cannot do anything. Thus, because women’ s faith is an imitation , just as simulated fire can be of no use , in the same way , their feigned religion can do them no good. Religion Should b e Accepted Sincerely Indeed, just as real fire can cook food, sincere faith can be beneficial. It is useless to have faith, merely because your husband desires it. In our country , this is known as a Rakabi [saucer] or