Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 452
! ! 452 Address to the Ladies at the O ccasion of Jalsa Salana Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra 20 Hijrah 1323 After reciting Surah Al - Fatihah , Haz rat Kha lifa t - ul - Masih II ra said: I n this world , t he most valuable virtue a person can possess is earnestness. The Holy Qur’ān has called it devotion and faithfulness. In the Holy Qur’ān , God Almighty says : § ِّﻟ ۡﻠ ُﻤ َﺼ ِّﻠ َۡني َﻓ َﻮ ۡﻳ ٌﻞ “ So, woe to those who pray. ” (Holy Qur’ān , Ch. 107: V. 5) On the one hand, He commands us to perform Salāt and on the other He uses the word ‘ obliteration ’ for those who perform Salāt. This word is used for th at Salāt which is offered without sincerity. Salāt is a source of union between man and God. If there is lack of sincerity, Salāt cannot be considered a true Salāt in the court of God. Our fasting cannot be considered a true fast i f we are not sincere. If we are sincere, then our Hajj is valid, our Zakat and sadaqa is valid. If there is no devotion, then there is nothing. When an actor imitates a K ing, people do not fear him. However, when a landowner of some acreage appears , people treat him with respect because he i s not imitating. Similarly, when a performer acts like a great thief, people do not fear him because it is only a performance. However, people fear even the sight of the casual thief who steal s o ne or two coins cautioning each other to stay alert. When people go to the cinema and watch the lords and wealthy deliver their fabrics to the tailor onscreen, audience members do not go out the next day and deliver their fabric to that same actor to be tailored. I nstead , they go to their own ordinary tailor, who cha rges a nominal amount of money for tailoring, for he is a tailor in real life,