Lajna: A Recognition of Women’s Potential

Iffat Mirza, Cambridge

The future tense is such a beautiful thing that we have in many languages. There is no greater affirmation that being told you can and will do something. The promise of being able to use your abilities to achieve, create, learn, teach etc is a precious thing to recognise in ourselves, others, and our communities.

But it is also something that is immensely fragile. We can lose hope in ourselves incredibly quickly and it can take days, weeks, months, or even years to rebuild what we once had.  Nonetheless, even in those moments where all seems lost, we still have it in us to speak towards a future tense. There is a promise of something that may not be tangible quite yet, but we know that the ingredients for it are somewhat within us already which allow us to think towards this future.

Such optimism is not just a nice idea but at its very core is a survival mechanism – particularly for us as women. The history of women’s freedom movements has historically – and continues to be – met with antagonism which seeks to tell women that they cannot do what they are setting their minds to. This is why, I believe that there is no greater affirmation than being told you can and will do something.

Ahmadi Muslim women were told this with in the most confident and assured manner when His Holiness Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad (may Allah be pleased with him) established Lajna Ima’illah in 1922.  The establishment of an auxiliary group within the Ahmadiyya Community tells us that our role in this Community – and the wider world – is not secondary, nor is it an afterthought, and most of all, it is one that can run independently from men. Coming from the Khalifa of the time, there was no way that this could have been disputed by others from the Community – let alone the men.

In the college that I currently study at – a women’s only college – there is a stark reminder of the antagonism that some men have historically held towards anything that promotes women’s education and advancement. Less than one hundred steps from my residence stand beautiful gates which bear testament to such antagonism. On the evening of 20 October 1921, – only a year before the establishment of Lajna Imai’llah shortly after 8.30pm, a hostile crowd of undergraduate men made their way to the College, following a vote on degrees for women in the University.  They attempted to force entry through the gates in by ramming them with a handcart and caused significant damage. Even where I stand, I am reminded that change and advancement has never been easy for women.

Remembering this history on my doorstep reminds me what I have taken for granted. In 1922, as Lajna Ima’illah was established, His Holiness Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad (may Allah be pleased with him) stated:

‘Since every new project is ridiculed by people at the outset, it is necessary, therefore, that you should disregard their mockery and the lesson to bear taunts and insults with fortitude and bravery (whether given privately or in public), should be learnt beforehand so that by seeing your example other sisters should also come forward to perform their duty.’

As the English Suffragette Movement was gaining momentum in the early 20^th Century, education for women was finally becoming ever so slightly accessible, of course, the mockers and detractors became louder also. His Holiness’ foresight to give women of the Community the strength to withstand any mockery was built right into the fabric of Lajna Ima’illah and to this day these lines are mentioned in the Lajna Constitution.

The fundamental difference in the establishment of Lajna Ima’illah and other women’s organisations – which are all very admirable in their own ways and according to their own contexts – was that from the very outset, Lajna saw all women as their sisters and saw the future of women as one that every individual needed to work towards in order to make it a reality. Today, I know that if I am fortunate enough to be pursuing a higher education degree whilst fully embracing my religion and faith, it is because the women before me sacrificed everything they had for this future.

How beautiful is it that someone- His Holiness Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmood Ahmad – not only dreamed of a future but made it his mission to ensure it becomes a reality. In his own words, which continue to underpin the Lajna constitution today: ‘all women are sisters to one another’.