Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 63
! ! 63 a rope with which camels are bound. According to consensus , one who does not pay Zakat is not a Muslim. Assess yoursel ves carefully , because du e to your failure to offer the Salāt, m any from am ong you cannot be called ‘ Muslim s. ’ For th e rest of you , let it not be that due to your declining to pay Zakat, you are also no longer called Muslims. Keep Your Fasts The third commandment is that of fasting. Fasting is prescribed for you in the month of Ramadan except for thos e days, when women are prohibited by God to do so. You should fast the rest of the days. There is no need to further emphasize this , for although people refrain from offering Salāt , they do fast regularly. N ot for God , but for show. They wake up at night and make special preparation s for fasting. Hajj Khana Ka ‘ ba h The fourth commandment is pilgrimage to M ecc a if God Almighty grants you the opportunity to do so. It requires m any conditions. For example, one should be able to afford the cost ; the conditions should be peaceful, and a woman mus t be accompanied by her husband, son , nephew , or an other close relative. Sad a qa [Alms] a nd Charity The above commandments are obligatory for both a man and a w oman. In addition , there is also sadaqa and charity. Albeit sad a qa and charity are not mandatory , it is still a person’s duty to partake in it. We s hould give it to our relatives, our neighbors, the poor , or the needy. The tradition of giving sadaqa has declined a mong Ahmadis , the r eason being that they consider giving chanda as giving sadaqa despite the fact that there is quite a difference between giving chanda for Jama‘ at i purposes and sadaqa. S ad a qa and charity belongs to those poor and needy , who reside near you. Religion plays no role in this. S o regardless of their faith , if a person is impoverished, they should be helped. For example, if you meet a poor woman, you should not discriminate against her because she is Hindu. Rather, you should most