Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 239
239 Therefore, today I announce that from now on, you should have no relationship with such people. You should not worry that their leaving w ill lessen our funds. When the Promised Messiah as made his claim, how many people paid chanda at that time? Yet, God Almighty grew His Jama ‘ at and now the annual budget of Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyy at [ The Central Ahmadiyya Council ] is one point seven million rupees, and we expect that in the next two to four years our annual budget will reach five or six million rupees. Thus, having begun from one person , if our Jama ‘ at has progressed so much that our budget has reached hundred s of thousands of rupees, what would it matter if these ten or fifteen people leave ? We believe that if one person leaves our Jama ‘ at, God Almighty will give us a thousand more people. So , we do not worry about them leaving. We simply wish that they should not be Ahmadi merely in name, but that they show their obedience to the Holy Prophet sa through their actions. The Interpretation of Purdah P urdah does not mean the purdah of the previous times, which was practiced in India, when women were confined within the four walls of the house. Nor doe s purdah mean the current burqa. The burqa that is in practice today was not worn during the time of the companions of the Holy Prophet sa. At that time, women used to wear their large shawls in such a way that the cloth was drawn to cover their faces , much like t he noble farm women [in Pakistan and India] practice it today. Thus, once a c ompanion of the Holy Prophet sa was sitting in the m osque of Kufa , and the topic of purdah came up. At that time, a new form of burqa had emerged. The c ompanion ra was mentioning this and said, “I swear by God Almighty that there was no tradition of anything like this in the time of the Holy Prophet sa. ” In those times, women used to cover themselves with a l arge shawl and pull i t over their faces. This would cover their whole face and leave their eyes free , just as still is the tradition in the old landlord families [of India and Pakistan]. Hence, the Shariah only indicates a large shawl to be wrapped and has emphasize d that a ghoonghat should be drawn [ fabric be drawn to cover the face ]. Otherwise, it is not permitted to cover the eyes , for that