Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 485
! ! 485 hear in foreign languages and are amazed and astounded by them , yet these terms are nothing more than what are used in ordinary daily conversations. Consequently, if you learn to read and write in Urdu, you will be capable of easily understand ing all these terms and you can benefit from all sorts of knowledge. At this time, w hen these large and unknown terms are presented before you which mak e you feel impressed, o nce you have learn ed Urdu, all of these terms will appear relatively simple to you. Therefore , the first step Lajna Ima’illah should take once it is organized, is to teach all the women within the Jama'at to read and write. Next, the second step should be to write down in straightforward Urdu the principles of Salāt , fasting, and other major commands of Shariah and teach them to all women. The third step is for all wo men to learn the translation of Salāt , so that they do not recite the Salāt as if they were parrot s. Let it not be that when reading Salāt , they do not know what they say during Salāt. The final and the most crucial step is for all women to learn the translation of the Holy Qur’ān. With in a few years ’ time , there should be no woman left in our Jama'at who does not know the translation of the Holy Qur’ān. A t this time, there may not be even one woman in a thousand who knows the translation of the Holy Qur’ān. M y position is that of a teacher, therefore th ere is no harm if I request those women who know the translation of the Holy Qur’ān to stand up and those who do not know the translation to remain seated. I would like to see how many among you know the translation of the Holy Qur’ān. Thus, a ll those who know the translation of the Holy Qur’ān should stand up. ( Upo n Haz rat Khalifa t - ul - Masih II ’s ra instruction , many women stood up and upon seeing this, Haz rat Khalifa t - ul - Masih II ra continued. ) It is a very satisfying thing to see that more women than I had estimate d stood up. Al - H amdu L illah ! Now you can sit down. For me, this happiness is greater than the joy of Eid. I had thought that the number of women who knew the translation of the Holy Qur’ān would be less than one - tent h of the women who stood up. However,