Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 530
! ! 530 Safeg uarding the Rights of Women Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra January 31, 1947 Today, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that as far as the question of humanity is concerned, men and women possess the same sentiments and propensities. There are s ome minor missteps, which can cause man to stumble in matters of great significance , leading to erroneous perceptions and doubts. One of these matters, which I am going to discuss , is related to a woman’s rights. The Holy Qur’ān draws attention to this matter by stating: َّو َّو ا ِﺣ َﺪ ٍۃ َّﻧ ۡﻔ ٍﺲ ِّﻣ ۡﻦ َﺧ َﻠ َﻘ ُﻜ ۡﻢ ا :َِّ ۡی َر َّﺑ ُﻜ ُﻢ ا َّﺗ ُﻘ ۡﻮ ا ا ﻟ َّﻨ ﺎ ُس ٰٓﻳ َﺎ ُّﻳ َﻬ ﺎ َز ۡو َﺟ َﻬ ﺎ ِﻣ ۡﻨ َﻬ ﺎ َﺧ َﻠ َﻖ “ O! Mankind, be mindful of your duty to your Lord, Who created you from a single soul and created therefrom its mate. ” (Holy Qur’ān Ch. 4: V. 2 ) As far as human nature is concerned, a woman is created in the same way as man is. In the words : َز ۡو َﺟ َﻬ ﺎ ِﻣ ۡﻨ َﻬ ﺎ َﺧ َﻠ َﻖ [ “…and created therefrom its mate…” ] Allah A lmighty has brought our attention to the point , that there is no difference in the nature of man and woman. Women possess the same nature and desires as men do, therefore, women should be given the same rights as men have. In no way, does t his verse imply that all of mankind was created from one soul [person] , for that inference would contain no element of wisdom.