Garments for Each Other — Page 42
42 The Promised Messiah (as) once said: "People in our nation have the bad habit of wasting hundreds of rupees on marriage ceremonie s” 2 A hundred years ago, or even before that, spending hundreds of rupees was a huge expenditure. But today it is not a matter of hundreds of rupees but hundreds and thousands of rupees, well beyond one’s means, which has probably surpassed the hundreds of rupees of that time. The Promised Messiah (as) also said that fireworks and the like are not allowed. 3 People are arranging fireworks now for weddings. Nowadays, people also decorate their homes with lights during weddings and do so excessively. On the one hand, there is this outcry which everyone coming from Pakistan speaks of that there is a power shortage there, that load shedding goes on for hours and that everything has become unbearably expensive; on the other hand, some homes are spending unnecessarily and excessively and are thus not only harming their country but are also committing sin. Therefore, Pakistani Ahmadis in general should be careful not to be wasteful, and there should be particular regard for this in Rabwah. And in Rabwah, it is the responsibility of Sadr ‘ Um umi to monitor that there is no excessive spending and showing off of one’s wealth and prestige during weddings. It is due to God’s special Grace bestowed on the Jama’at that its members have been able to stay away from the customs associated with occasions of sorrow. Ahmadis stay away from customs such as satvan, dasvan and chalisvan (customs observed on 7th, 10th and 40th day after death) etc. , that are observed by non-Ahmadi Muslims. These customs at times, in fact oftentimes, become a burden on family members. But if people get caught up in one type of erroneous custom under the