Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 91
91 afflicted with sorrow ? At this time, God Almighty and H is messenger are calling us for help. It is the responsibility of every woman and every man to come forward and present themselves for the service of Islam. ” ( Al - F azl , 19 August 1950 , p. 6) Address to Lajna Ima’illah Lahore Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra Ratan Bagh, Lahore June 5, 1950 at 7:00 p. m. “… God Almighty has again manifested a light in this age. Once a gain , the sun has risen t o remove all darkness. Thus, recognize your importance and try to bring about a new awareness with in yourself. You should know that God Almighty has provided limitless opportunities for your success. You should try to follow the example of Ha z rat Zainab ra a nd you should try to mimic the examples of the Sahabiat ra , who se accomplishments stood out in the world. ” At the start of the speech , Ha z rat Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra said : “My health is not good enough to be delivering speeches these days , b ut one day when I was lying in my bed suffering from severe heat stroke and a severe headache , a few office holders from Lajna Ima’illah Lahore visited me in Rabwah. They said, ‘ We heard that you are going to Baluchistan [a province in Pakistan], and we would like you to deliver a speech at our Ijtema [gathering] as well. ’ Considering my condition, my immediate desire was to refuse b ut then I realized that while I was affected with heat stroke while sitting in my room, they have come all the way from Lahore in the sweltering heat. I thought God Almighty might dislike my refusal. Thus, I agreed to make the speech. I instructed them to schedu le the speech in the early evening so that going out in the heat would not cause me to suffer. I was disappointed in our country , because people do not have the habit of being on time, therefore despite my instructions, Lajna Ima’illah announced that my speech would be at 5 p. m.