Huzoor, you know when we have lessons, we do purdah from the male teachers. I was wondering why don’t we do purdah from you? Well, why don’t you? No, I mean… In fact, this Khalifa is taken to be a sort of head of the family. And Ma’ar behaves to him sometimes very closely, so intimately as if he is closer than a father or closer than a brother and so on. So that is traditionally found and also it is essential because otherwise the ladies would be left without personal contact with Khalifa and personal attention of the Khalifa for teaching them as intimately as they should be taught.
So, Khalifa should be looked at as a member of the family, an elder of the family, even closer in many respects. So, this is how it happens. But from the Sharia point of view, if a lady observes purdah from a Khalifa, she is within her rights. Nobody can stop her. If she doesn’t feel like that and she feels shy or coy, she should observe purdah. You should not affect things. You should permit them to happen naturally. And if your nature does not permit you, follow your nature.
And if you feel towards Khalifa as if you feel towards your father or brother or things, you know, relations so close and that intimacy helps you in achieving better spiritual status or greater knowledge, that is not forbidden because the ladies, as we know traditionally, did not observe purdah from the Holy Prophet. They did not observe purdah from Khulafah-e-Rashideen. Generally speaking, I am not talking of everyone, they did not observe purdah from Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III. So, why Khalifatul Masih IV alone? No, I mean that the teachers, when they teach, they are only teaching us.
They are not looking around. I know there are certain teachers of certain age with which you can be lax in your purdah. I mean there is no harm. But it depends on what type of teachers they are and do they incite confidence in you and their general reputation and behaviour. All these things go towards such decisions. So, if you are lax in your purdah with your elderly teachers, I mean that is not an objection because for that also there is an exception, a window of exception open in the Holy Quran. Those and this is the general principle through which all these exceptions are made. That if there is no chance of wrong things to happen, to that extent you can be lax in your purdah.
