Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 533
! ! 533 Payment of Chanda from Jewelry and Inheritance Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad, Kh alifat - ul - Masih II ra April 11, 1947 , in Qadian We have noticed that most women possess some jewelry. Women like to wear jewelry, even if it is only one or two rupees worth. Even the poorest woman wears earrings of eight aana (one sixteenth of a rupee) at least. Everyone is rewarded [by Allah] according to what they give. Therefore, a woman who wears only eight aana worth of earrings and give s a single paisa (penny) still earns equal reward. Both partake in equal reward. I was saying that the majority of women possess some type of jewelry. If we assume that there are twenty thousand women in our Jama'at and each woman has on average, fifty rupees worth of jewelry, then this amount equals ten lakh [one million] rupees. This way we can collect ten thousand rupees of chanda. Women have written to me that they are even willing to sell their jewelry to come up with this amount. I have told them that they should also sacrifice according to their means , however we cannot burden you to collect this general fund. Men come first, and then you thereafter. Men should step forward before women. Since men acquire twice as much inheritanc e, their share of sacrifice should be double as well. Out of their father's estates , a brother gets two rupees while his sister gets only one. It is only befitting that the brother should contribute more than his sister. It is a custom in England that a woman is given precedence in all dignitary affairs. On every such occasion they say, ‘ ladies first ’ ; for instance, while entering a room, or to be seated for a meal. In short, they honor women in all affairs. By the grace of Allah , our men are not one s to sit back [doing nothing] and tell their women to go ahead [ regarding giving chanda ]. The Responsibility o f Women i n Extraordinary Circumstances There could indeed come a time when each and every man is