Staying Away from Bad Customs

and was silent without crying or wailing. Indoors, some ladies started crying. She told them off firmly that the deceased was her husband and she did not cry, then who were they to cry!

This pure model of patience and resolve of a lady, who was nurtured in elegance and had just lost a husband who was a spiritual king and who cared deeply for her, was a tremendous miracle. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, vol. 6, p. 547, new edition)

She also counseled her children not to think that their father had not left them anything, rather he had left them a great treasure of prayers which would continue to benefit them at the right time.

The Promised Messiahas wished that everyone who joined his Community should act upon the commandments of the Holy Qur’an or at least tried to act upon them. His follower was one who fully believed in the Qur’an. The Promised Messiahas said that if one disobeyed even one commandment, such a person had no connection with him. It was his wish that those who believe in him should rise above the worldly customs and thus guard themselves from the greed and frivolous customs of this world; that they would strive only to do what Allah the Almighty and His Prophetsa have enjoined. Indeed, the Prophet of God has only commanded what is God’s commandment in the Holy Qur’an. This is the reason when someone asked Hadrat ‘Aishahra about the noble character of the Holy Prophetsa, she had replied, ‘Do you not read

the Qur’an? The characteristics that are mentioned in the Qur’an are the very character of the Holy Prophetsa.’ This is why the Promised Messiahas said that he followed his master and patron and declared each commandment of the Holy Qur’an to be his way of life. If others too complied with this, only then they would be counted in his Community.

Once they made the bai‘at, the members of his Community too demonstrated such models.

First of all I wish to present the model of an Ahmadi lady, the mother of Hadrat Chaudhry Zafrullah Khan ra. This incident demonstrates how much she disliked innovative customs. The incident took place at the time of the wedding of Chaudhry Bashir Ahmad, her nephew. Chaudhry Bashir Ahmad states that after the nikah ceremony he was called into the ladies quarters. He noticed that two seats had been arranged facing each other, as is the custom in villages and he was expected to sit on one seat and the bride was to be seated on the other, and certain customs were to be carried out. He says:

I felt nervous but then decided that it would not be proper at this time to argue with ladies at the time. So I sat on the seat designated for me and stretched my hand towards the things arranged for the customs. Immediately, my aunt, that is

Chaudhry Zafrullah Khan Sahib’sra mother, held my wrist with force and pushed my hand away and said, ‘Son, this is shirk (associating partners with Allah the Almighty).’ This gave me courage as well and I pushed those things away with my hand, stood up and said: ‘I will not participate in those customs.’ That is how I freed myself.