Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 220
! ! 220 implemented. However, it is present in Islam already. Now we have begun the effort and even though it may start out on a small scale , everything which begin s small at the beginning produces its final effect in due course. Many people had hoped to clo s e down this Madrassa Ahmadiyya [Ahmadiyya School] , which has acc omplished so much. N ow , those very same peopl e ruefully proclaim: ُﻣ ۡﺴ ِﻠ ِﻤ َۡني َﻛ ﺎ ُﻧ ۡﻮ ا َﻟ ۡﻮ َﻛ َﻔ ُﺮ ۡو ا ا :َِّ ۡﻳ َﻦ َﻳ َﻮ ُّد ُر َﺑ َﻤ ﺎ [ “ Often will the disbelievers wish they were Muslims ” ] (Holy Qur’ān Ch. 15: V. 3) [ Which means, ] ‘ Alas! W ould that w e had done the same. ’ Lahories are voicing their plans to make arrangements for m au lvi s. Hence , we are in the initial stages of arranging a system of education for women and we realize it is inadequate. However, if we do not begin the work, it will be left as it is. If the effort towards the education of women progresses as it is currently progressing , then God willing, there will be enough teachers ready with in two or three years to enable us to even establish a girls’ middle school. Those girls with a middle school education will be educated to prepare them as t eachers for the entrance level and then from among those girls, some can continue onto higher education. We also n eed teachers who can teach nursing and medicine. For this reason, Chaudhary Ghulam Muhammad has sent his daughter to medical school and laid a good foundation. May Allah grant her the ability to finish and then we will have a trained female doctor here. This is the beginning. I f this work continues and women have courage, then we can achieve so much and God will also help them. Women Should Work w ith Courage Before she presented her address, the Lajna secretary, who is also my wife, endeavore d to have me check her speech and improve upon it. Howev er, I said I would not change a single word. I sa id to her, “You think that if your address contains mistakes, pe ople will call you ignorant. However, men can also make mistakes and they do