Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 240
240 would be cruel to women. Similarly, there is no harm in going out for a walk with your wife as long as she observes purdah. I heard Ha z rat Khalifat - ul - Masih I ra myself narrate that , “Once , the Promised Messiah as was taking a walk with his wife, Hazrat Umm - ul - Momineen ra [ Mother of believers ] on the railway station of Amritsar. Maulawi Abdul Karim ra came to me in a panic and said, ‘ Maulawi Sahib, look t he Promised Messiah as is strolling here and Hazrat Umm - ul - Momineen ra is with him. Please go and advise Ha z rat Sahib that this is not appropriate. There are strangers gathered here at the station and they will criticize. ” Ha z rat Khalifat - ul - Masih I ra said , “ I replied that since t he objection has come up in your mind , you should mention it to the Promised Messiah as yourself. I am not going to. Finally, he went [to the Promised Messiah as ] himself. After a little while, he came back with his head bowed down. I asked, ‘ Maulawi Sahib did you say it? ’ He replied, ‘ Yes, I said that it was not appropriate a nd that tomorrow, it will be published in all the newspapers and enemies will criticize you. ’ When the Promised Messiah as heard this, he said, ‘ Maulawi Sahib, what will they write? Will they write that Mirza Qadiani was taking a walk with his wife? And even i f they write this, what is so worrying about it ? ’ ” Thus, purdah was so strict in those days that people considered taking one’s own wife for a walk to be improper. B ut the Promised Messiah as did not care about that. In his last days when the Promised Messiah as was residing in Lahore, he regularly took Ha z rat Umm - u l - Momineen ra out with him. Since the Promised Messiah as himself was ill and suffered from nerve related problems, and Ha z rat Umm - ul - Momineen ra was also poorly , he would go out daily in a phaeton and Ha z rat Umm - ul - Momineen ra would go with him. The same went for Qadian, where Ha z rat Umm - ul - Momineen ra always went for walks and her female friends would go with her. In short, purdah does not mean that you should confine your women to their homes. They can go out for excursions. Yes, hearing outburst s of laughter from within home s is not permissible. However, it is permissible for them to talk to others about important matter s. For instance, if they need to seek a doctor’s advice, they can. O r suppose there