Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 338
! ! 338 religious book s? How shameful to see English converts seek to learn Urdu to read the Promised Messiah as ’s books , while our ladies refuse to learn Urdu. If they can read a small amount , they begin to read novels. Seek to gain knowledge of religion ; read the Holy Qur’ān and read the Hadith. K nowledge and wisdom can be found with in the Promised Messiah ’s as books , therefore derive beneficial knowledge from them. Obtaining a b achelor ’ s or m aster ’ s degree offers no benefit to religion. Last year, a girl who was working towards her BA degree , was requested to do tabligh to her peers regarding the teachings of Ahmadiyyat. She replied that she did not wish to create conflict among her peers. Yet she was no intellectual, rather she was ignorant. What benefit did she gain from such an education? If education means to learn something , are not ironsmiths or carpenters knowledgeable in their field? The meaning of education is to learn that which captures your interest. Those fields which fulfill your needs are called education. A person with a BA degree was not recruited in the armed forces , for he was unskilled in the martial arts nor was he knowledgeable of army tactics. Would you call a physician competent simply because he might be knowledgeable concerning music [a skill unrelated to his field ] ? Therefore, we must evaluate what type of knowledge is required. We are in need of religio us knowledge. If a woman succee ds in earning her m aster ’ s degree but is incompetent in raising her children or managing a household, she is not knowledgeable but ignorant. The first responsibility of a mother is training her children and then running a household. One who reads Hadith and the Holy Qur’ān is a pious Muslim woman. If a woman excels in reading books to become a teacher or a physician, it is very beneficial because we need such professions. All other sciences are in vain. I ask the question, what will you do with a b achelor ’ s or m aster ’ s degree ? I advise the ladies of the community to learn religion and attain spiritual knowledge. Haz rat Rabi ’ a h Basri rh or Haz rat A’isha h Siddiqa h ra had no educational degrees. Haz rat A’isha h r a learned religion and she is the master of half of religious knowledge. When we need a Hadith dealing with the issue of