Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 412
! ! 412 [ “Verily Allah watches over you” ] (Holy Qur’ān, Ch. 4: V. 2) [Which means,] j ust as a mother watches over her child, He watches over you. Therefore, it is wrong to entertain the notion that a man and a woman are two completely different species. Just as a man is a human being, so is a woman. Yes , their functions are different. A woman gives birth and nourishes the child, and the man is the breadwinner and provides for the children. It has never crossed my mind that this distinction between each function would be something which would degrade the status of wom en. This difference in duties can be found among men as well. I am a Khalifa , but not every man is a Khalifa , and my being a Khalifa does not exclude the rest of the Ahmadi men from being considered part of the male species. Does your species change because you come from different tribes ? In a typical family, children grow up to become a clerk, teacher , or a land registrar. Usually, the father and son have different professions. A registrar is still considered a man, a doctor is considered a man, and a tradesman is considered a man. Similarly, among women, there are laundresses and hairdressers. Now a laundress is still a woman and so is a hairdresser. Being a laundress or a hairdre sser does not negate their woman hood. In the same way, there is a servant and a master. Thus, the difference in professions does not change one’s species. Men go into varied professions , just as women adopt varied roles. They are both ā dam ī , only their roles are different. If women truly comprehend this point, they will be able to safeguard their own rights. If they believe themselves to be ā dam ī and men also consider them to be ā dam ī , then no one will suppress the other’s rights. There is no doubt that men and women have separate roles to perform , but God Almighty has assigned no differentiation between them regarding their faith. The most important belief is: َﺷ ۡﻴ ًﺌ ﺎ ِﺑ ٖﻪ ºُ ۡﺸ ِﺮ ُ ۡﻮ ا َﻻ َو ا َّٰﷲ ا ۡﻋ ُﺒ ُﺪ و ا َو