Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 161
! ! 161 Address to the Ladies at Jalsa Salana Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad , Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra December 28, 1924 After recitation of Tashahhud , Ta‘awwuz and Surah Al - Fatihah , Haz rat Khalifa t - ul - Masih II ra stated: First ly, I thank God for having sent the Promised Messiah as for our guidance and grantin g us the opportunity to accept him : ا ۡﻟ َﻌ ِﻈ ۡﻴ ِﻢ ا ۡﻟ َﻔ ۡﻀ ِﻞ ُذ و ا ُّٰﷲ َو n 'َّ َﺸ ﺂ ُء َﻣ ۡﻦ ُﻳ ۡﺆ ِﺗ ۡﻴ ِﻪ ا ِّٰﷲ َﻓ ۡﻀ ُﻞ ٰذ ِﻟ َﻚ [ “ That is Allah’s grace ; He bestows it on whom He pleases; and Allah is the Lord of immense grace. ” ] (Holy Qur’ān, Ch. 6 2 : V. 5) God gives this bounty to whom He pleases, and God is the Greatest of the Bestower s. I then thank God that He has instilled in our Jama‘ at member s’ hearts a fervor and yearning to spread th e message to others. With the current condition of Muslims and the difficulties they face , it is entirely due to the great miracle of the Promised Messiah as that women desire their children to be devoted to religion. Those women who previously wasted their time quarreling or backbiting , accepted the Promised Messiah as and now spend their time in the service of their faith. I cannot stop from declaring that although the men of our community have much to accomplish on the path to religious progress , there also remains much more that women in our community must achieve. Rather , I would say that in comparison to men, the need for religious progress among women is much greater. One’s s piritual and material status is very differ ent from their ability to perform. There are some who are enthusiastic, but they do