Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 171
171 Two Important Issues Excerpt from Friday Sermon Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra Rabwah January 22, 1954 Need f or Cleanliness “… Today I received a letter from a new female convert in which she had made so me complaints about the women. As she is a new convert , she is unaware that there are differences between our ways and methods and those of other Muslim sects. I do not say that Ahmadis in other places adhere to these ways and methods , but those living in the headquarters do certainly follow th em. The practice [according to our ways] is that during the Friday sermons, such topics are explained which the Jama'at needs t o be informed about at the time … Anyhow, the complaint of that lady wa s that children come in the area apportioned for women and often make noise and sometim es even urinate in the m osque. In this regard , I would like to point out that it is Lajna Ima’illah ’s duty to remind women of their duties and responsibilities about the etiquette of the m osque, including cleanliness. I am certain that if they made every effort towards this goal, they would be successful in achieving it. At the same time , I would like to convey to the new female convert that there is a difference between Ahmadi and other Muslim sects, and she shou ld understand that difference. The Muslims of other sects do not encourage women to come t o the m osque for the Friday prayer , which is why very few women com e to their m osque s on Fridays. B ut here, in order to comply with Islamic Shariah’s objec tive , we insist that w omen should participate in all national activities. Thus, because of our insistence that women come to such events, their children accompany them to the mosque as well. Since there is no emphasis on women coming to the m osque in other sects , firstly, very few women attend and of those who come, they are elderly ladies who have already raised their children or the re are other women at home, with whom they leave the childre n. On