Hazrat Amman Jan - An Inspiration for Us All — Page 84
84 Subsequently, Amatul Mateen Sahibah cherished the pyjama suit a nd then distributed it amongst her own children. Her great granddaughter , Sahibzadi Amatush - Shakoor , reminisces d how after the partition of India and Pakistan, she had a growth spurt. One day , Hadrat Amman Jan ra noticed this and beckoned Amatush - Shakoor Sahibah. She advised her that now she had grown she should keep her legs covered. Unfortunately, money was scarce after the partition and Amatush - Shakoor Sahibah recalls that her mother did not have the resources to make her new “pyjamas". When Hadrat Amman Jan ra learnt that her great grand - daughter had already asked her mother for some "pyjamas", she got one of her attendants to open one of her store boxes. She took out a course , white cloth which she then ripped and had two “pyjamas” cut. She then sent the material to be sewn. Amatush - Shakoor Sahibah began to happily wear these under her frocks. Th e incident typifies Hadrat Amman Jan ’ s ra resourcefulness and her infinite ability to fulfil people's needs even in the most straitened circumstances. There are lessons for us to learn living in western societies where we are accustomed to excessive buying and wastage. Repairing objects has now been superseded by a consumer culture, where if something breaks , we immediately replace it. Hadrat Amman Jan's ra s imple but adequate lifestyle whereby she fulfilled her family's requirements and then gave to those in need, illustrates how our basic needs are actually relatively few. It is a modern trend that we tend to accummulate many superfluous objects. We , like Hadrat Amman Jan ra , should strive to lead a simple r , ascetic lifestyle, buying less and spending more on others. This was also a direction of Hadrat Musleh Mau ’ ud ’ s ra