Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 403
! ! 403 that when t he y see that which is vain , t he y pay no attention to it. However, it is most unfortunate that women are often attracted to vain things. For example , they will often ask each other , without any reason, about how much they paid for one suit or the other. [They will ask about] w here they purchase d a piece of jewelry and so they do not rest until they find out its entire history. The Promised Messiah as would relate that once a woman arranged for a ring to be made for her. However, nobody paid any attention to the ring. She was so upset that she burnt down her house. When p eople asked her if anything had been saved from the fire , s he replied that nothing had been saved except for th e ring. One of the ladies asked her , “W hen did you have this ring made ? It is so beautiful ! ” She replied, “I f you had asked me this earlier , my house would not have been burn t down ! ” This habit is not only confined to women but is also found in men. After saying As - S alam u ‘ Alaikum they begin to ask , ‘ Where did you come from? Where are you going? What do you do? What i s your income? ’ Now , why be so involved in someone else’s life? The English never ask each other, ‘Where do you work? What is your education? What is your income? ’ They do n o t even think to be so intrusive. In short, the pursuit of va in things is extremely prevalent among women , but God Almighty states that believers are those who do not indulge in vain pursuits. Frankly, can those who are focused on greater things even take the time to consider trivial matters ? If you are truly concerned for your religion and you under s tand that Islam has been thrust in such great peril , then you will be un able to focus on anything else. If your house is on fire , how can you sit in peace ? Similarly, in this day and age , when the homes of Muslims are on fire, how can you bear to absorb yourself with gold applique and adornments ? Why do you not dedicate this time for the service of Allah ’s religion and why do you not dedicate th is time to acquire religious knowledge? Your hearts are dead, and so while Allah’s religion is immersed in turmoil you do not shed tears , but rather you continue to carry on with your useless pursuits. The true believing men and women are :