Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 408
! ! 408 Women are not a Separate Entity from Men Address to the Ladies at the Occasion of Jalsa Salana Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra December 27, 1940 After the recitation of Tashahhud , Ta‘awwuz , and Surah Al - Fatihah , Hazrat Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra said: There is an issue concerning women, which if women heard [advice concerning it] day and night and women and men were told of its i mportance morning and evening, even then these efforts would fall short due to the need [to focus on that matter] in this day and age. This is because the issue which I refer to has existed for thousands of years. A problem which has existed for thousands of years cannot be tackled in one lecture. Both men and women have been led to believe that wom en are separate beings from men and as a result , they either ignore them or do not give due importance to the many responsibilities which fall on women’s shoulders. The m ore often the importance of this matter is stressed, the greater will be the benefit for women. I have observed that this notion has become so widespread that men consider women to be something very different from them and women also believe themselves to be a separate entity from men. Women always take the word ā dam ī [ the literal definition is ‘from Adam’ and is used to denote people , or mistakenly only men ] to mean a man. If men are sitting in a gathering and women are asked, “Who is sitting there?” They answer: “ Ā dam ī. ” Actually, ā dam ī means human beings. Men and women are both Adam’s progeny. When women are sitting in a gathering , men will say that no ā dam ī should go in there , because women are sitting inside. Therefore , it appears that two races exist. One belongs to Adam and the other belongs to Satan. If men believe they belong to Adam and women belong to Satan, then how will women make progress? This notion is so widespread that even an educated woman, whether she is a