Blessings of Khilafat — Page 95
95 causes a delay in the marriage resulting in additional problems. Moreover, one has to carefully monitor their own household in case daughters have to stay at home for some time and wait to get married—just because of the hostile social environment surrounding the family in such cases. As for other people they may not be so conscious of this problem, but we are, because we have been raised to reform the world. In short, Ahmad i s are faced with many problems regarding the issue of marriage. At times, those who are weak of faith fail to practice restraint and marry their daughters to non-Ahmad i s. This is a source of great distress for me, for marrying our girls to non-Ahmad i s causes much damage. What is more, such a nik ah [the announcement of marriage in Islam] in itself is not permissible. Since women are naturally weak and not always properly trained, they tend to adopt the ways and beliefs of the family they get married into which then destroys their own faith. And if they remain firm in their beliefs, there is always going to be perpetual conflict between them and their husbands, for the difference of beliefs will then ruin the love that should exist between a husband and wife. This deprives them of peace and comfort of heart. Then there are times when a person, in order to show that he is fully obeying the command of the Promised Messiah as , spreads the news that the person to whom he is going to marry his daughters is an Ahmadi or someone that has recently joined the Jam a ‘at. He says that only the formal initiation remains, and that such a person will pledge bai’at as soon as he is able to visit Qadian. They also get him to write a letter [for bai‘at ]. In certain cases, such a person even turns up in Qadian and pledges bai‘at. In certain other cases, boys, in order to get the hand of a girl of their choice, deceive the girl’s family by saying that they have already