Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 353
353 schools of their own. There are many among them who have taken to education in old age. The women are so fond of learning and teaching that many homes in Qadian have been turned into private schools. Old women above seventy years of age occupy themselves with learning translation of the Holy Quran. There are always present in Qadian a large number of men and women of every age who have come from different provinces and countries to receive education. If there is one place where East and West appear to be united it is Qadian. At other places where there is provision for Western education, there is none for religious instruc- tion, the home of which is the East, and where the study of religion is provided for there is indifference towards modern sciences, the centre of which is in the West. Among the Ahmadiyya Community, and particularly at Qadian which is the headquarters * of the Movement, both these are united. Here, notwithstanding, Mr. Rud- yard Kipling’s observation to the contrary, the East and the West have met. While Ahmadis are engaged in learning the Western sciences, they have so strong a faith in the teachings of their religion and are so devoted to it, that the sacrifice of life, property, and home for the sake of religion is to them a trifle. Even the minor commandments and directions of their religion are carefully observed by them in their pure and true form. Particular attention is among them paid to the rights of women and to their release from undue re- * see Appendix II