Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 155
155 Keep your Traditions Alive and Propose a n Eternal Motto Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra November 7, 1953 ( The following address was delivered to graduates of Jami ‘ a Nusrat by Ha z rat Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra o n November 7, 1953 at a graduation and prize distri bution ceremony in the Lajn a Hall. ) This hall has been built by the women themselves and I do not think that there is a women’s hall as large as this in the whole of Pakistan. True, there are some halls used by women, such as the YMCA Hall in Lahore, but this hall is much bigger than that hall. An yhow , this hall is bigger than any other women’s hall in Pakistan. It is source of joy that God Almighty has given women of our Jama'at the ability to make progress in all aspects of life. Traditions of Muslims If Islam ic teachings are studied , we see that Islam especially emphasizes that we should adopt good practices and discard bad ones. In other words, do not reject everything you encounter purely on the basis that it is not your custom , but is someone else’s. In fact , you should determine what part of it is good and what part is bad. Then you should adopt the good part and reject the bad. Muslims most likely started these kind s of cere mon ies [referring to the graduation ceremony and the prize distribution where Hazra t Musleh Mau‘ud ra was delivering this address] and if they did begin these ceremonies, it was in copying other nations. The reason for this is that unfortunately Muslims went through a p eriod (and this was not a brief phase but has lasted centuries) where Muslims have forgotten all abou t events from their past. They have forgotten who their ancestors are, and they have forgotten the traditions of th eir forefathers. They have become like savages and beasts , who do not think it is necessary to have a connection to their past. You see, animals have no ancestry. They do not know who their father was or who their