Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 356
! ! 356 efforts will not go unrewarded. If this is so, then how could the efforts of our hundreds and thousands of men who wor k for our Jama'at, who sever their own appetites to pay chanda , who break their ties with relatives only to join ties with the Jam a‘ at , go to waste? For if spen ding thousands of rupees and enduring all types of hardships , everything just results in no outcome, then I must say that we are the most unfortunate of all people s. The farmer bears the fruit of his toils by sowing seeds , the value of which is no more than a few rupees. If we find no return for our expense of thousands of rupees, this can be attributed to two reasons. One, we either follow the wrong path or we have not employed the correct means. A farmer consults the experts to discover the cause behind the loss of his crops and he improves on any weakness. Likewise, we should also determine the condition of the path upon which we tread. Is it the right or wrong path? For instance, the original foundation of our movement d ifferentiate s us from what other [Muslims] follow. First ly, mainstream Muslims believe that a reformer has yet to come for our reformation , whereas we believe that the reformer has come. He was the Promised Messiah as , the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. We believe that the Jesus as they await, has already come. Secondly, we say that the Holy Qur’ān is a living book and obeying the instructions contained with in the Holy Qur’ān can raise one to the status of a prophet, whereas our opponents claim that no other prophet will arrive after the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa. These are the two central and significant differences between us. There are however a number of minor differences. For instance, Ahmadis say that he who i s promised to come , will not appear from outside , but will be from among us [Muslims]. Non - Ahmadis say that he will descend directly from heaven. Ahmadis believe that by following the Holy Qur’ān , one can become the recipient of all awards and virtues, as mentioned in the Holy Qur’ān ; whereas non - Ahmadis question what the Holy Qur’ān can tell us , for the only truth is that which we have constructed ourselves. They attach more importance to their own beliefs than they do to the Holy Qur’ān , and yet ver y few Ahmadi women consider these issues. Not many women look at or thoroughly understand such issues, which is why