Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 316
! ! 316 By the Grace of God Almighty , I have a special interest in the education of women. Because of this, I have heard people’s objections and their opposing points of view. Even then, I am fully convinced and stand firm on the point that no nation can progress without the education of women. When I took over the administration of Jama'at Ahmadiyya, only an elementary school existed for women in Qadian. However, I taught the Holy Qur’ān and Arabic to my wives and my daughters, and directed them to teach local women the translation of the Holy Qur’ān and Hadith etc. I trained one of my wives especia lly for this purpose and my intention was that her own educational progress should benefit other women , but it was God’s Will that up on my return from tour ing England , she passed away. I then realized that traini ng only one woman was not feasible because it meant that if she died, it would take six to seven more years to train another one. Therefore, I arranged for female students to sit behind partitions to acquire education from [male] teachers. Objections were raised inside and outside of Qadian, questioning the value of an education where men taught women. Nevertheless, I paid no heed, as it is evidenced in the time of the Holy Prophet sa that men and women have taught each other in times of need. During the era of the Holy Prophet sa , Haz rat A’isha h ra herself taught his companions and new convert s the sacred words of the Holy Prophet sa. Our women ’s honor [ at this time] cannot be greater than the honor of those women, who lived at the time of the Holy Prophet sa. Therefore, the actions which are deemed appropriate for their status can in no way harm our [women’s] status. I conti nued with this undertaking and last year , a g ood number of women qualified for the Maulv i exam , the equivalent to a FA degree in Arabic. In addition , I also expanded the elementary school to include a middle school. Likewise, taking the Arabic exam qualifies one to take the e ntrance [exam], therefore some of the women who had either passed the Maulv i exam or who had been formally teaching at the school , also passed the e ntrance [exam] by the Grace of God Almighty. This year, we have established a college for women in Qadian.