Excerpt from Address by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II, Mirza Bashirruddin Mahmood Ahmad, (May Allah be pleased with him) to Lajna Imaillah [the women’s auxiliary] of Karachi (Pakistan) at Ahmadiyya Hall Karachi,  September 17, 1950:

The Purpose of Human Creation:

In the Holy Qur’an, regarding human creation, Allah Almighty says:

O’ ye people! Fear your Lord who created you from a single soul and of its kind created its mate, and from them twain spread many men and women; and fear Allah, in Whose name you appeal to one another, and fear Him particularly respecting ties of kinship. Verily, Allah watches over you. (Surah Al-Nisa, Ch4:v2)

This verse is explaining, very briefly, the circumstances surrounding the birth of human kind and the purpose of its creation. Allah Almighty says:

‘O’ people, acquire taqwaa [fear] of your Lord.’

[The word]‘naas’ in Arabic means the same as the word ‘aadami’ (Man) in Urdu or Persian.  Unfortunately in our country where, although, women have woken up to the task that they [now] seek out opportunities to serve their nation and religion, they have not yet been able to understand that they are also ‘aadami’ [normally translated as ‘men’]. Try saying to a woman that she is an ‘aadami’, she will respond, ‘Why would I be an ‘aadami’; it is men who are ‘aadami’.’  But ‘aadami’ actually means ‘progeny of Adam.’ The word ‘naas’ has the same meaning as the word ‘aadami’.  When the word ‘naas’ is used in the Arabic language it includes both men and women in its meaning. The same way, when the word ‘aadami’ is used in Urdu, it includes both men and women in its meaning. When we say that ‘these responsibilities are assigned to ‘aadami’’, it means that ‘these responsibilities are assigned to men as well as women’. Likewise, when we say in Arabic that ‘this is the condition of ‘naas’’, it means that ‘this is the condition of both men and women’.  Allah Almighty says in the Holy Qu’ran:

[Say, ‘I seek refuge in the Lord of naas [mankind], the King of naas [mankind], the God of naas [mankind].’ (114:2-4)]

Now this does not mean that ‘[I seek refuge in] the Lord of men, the King of men and the God of men.  What it means is that ‘I seek refuge in the One Who is worshiped by men and women both.’ Thus the word ‘naas’ in Arabic and the word ‘aadami’ in Urdu and Persian have the same meaning. The word ‘aadami’ is actually from the Arabic language but it is not commonly used [in Arabic]; mostly the word naas is used instead. The word ‘aadami’ however is [commonly] used in Persian and Urdu.

Thus, Allah Almighty says:

‘O’ men and women [naas = men + women], make your Lord [Rabb] your refuge and shield,’

‘…the One who created you,’

‘[Created you] with similar strengths, similar emotions, similar resolutions, similar worries, and similar desires.’

Similar Emotions of Men and Women: 

This verse seems to be telling us that as far as a person’s soul is concerned men and women are equal and they experience the same reality. Things that can make a man angry are the same kind of things that can make a woman angry. Behavior that a man dislikes is the same type of behavior a woman will not like either. The kinds of feelings found in men are found in women as well. So as far as the human soul is concerned, the same soul is found in men as is found in women.

Generally people translate this [verse] as, ‘O’ people, observe righteousness towards Allah who has created you from a man.’ But this interpretation is wrong. ‘Nafs’ in the Arabic language does not mean man at all. ‘Nafs’ means ‘life’, which is used in relation to both men and women alike. ‘Nafs’ means ‘something which breathes’, and man breathes as well as woman. There is a word in Arabic called ‘tanaffus’ [derived from ‘Nafs’] which means ‘to breathe in’. In Urdu too, the expression is used that ‘there is a problem with my tanaffus [‘breathing’], for example, due to cold, cough, or asthma.  Asthma is also referred to as ‘zeeq-un-nafs’ which means ‘difficulty in breathing’.  So ‘nafs’ actually means ‘breath’.  But then the meaning of ‘nafs’ also came to refer to, ‘that which breathes.’ So Allah Almighty says:

[In light of the above explanation this means] ‘O’ people, men and women, make your God a shield for yourselves; and, to save yourselves from all kind of ills and mischief, seek the protection of the One Who has created you from a breathing being, that is, from a single type of entity.’

Now, there is no mention of a man here, neither of a woman, since all men and women possess the same kind of capabilities; there is no difference.

‘…and then He created many couples of this kind.’

means, ‘created couples of this kind,’ which is to say that a human existence began, that included a man and a woman, and their feelings and desires and wishes were of the same kind. And then the thousands upon thousands that spread from their progeny were also not any different. It is not that they were the same kind in the days of Adam and then became different in later generations. No difference appeared in the later generations.  On the contrary, their men and women had the same kind of feelings.

‘And then Allah spread many men and women from these couples.’

That is to say that man inherited from his mother and his father, and woman inherited from her mother and her father. Just as a man inherited his mother’s, in addition to his father’s, emotions, the woman also inherited her father’s as well as her mother’s emotions. XXX

The Distinctive Teachings of the Holy Qur’an:

This is a basic principle mentioned in the Holy Qur’an that gives Islam distinction over all other religions.  There is no other religion in the world that mentions that men and women have the same kind of emotions, feelings and desires. To assume that men are of one type and women of another is wrong. For example, if some people live in a building and some other people are staying in a building next to theirs, one cannot say that the men living in the first building are of one kind and those living in the other building are of a different kind. And even though people live in different neighborhoods, different houses, and different cities, everyone understands that all people possess the same kind of strengths [and properties]. Similarly, even though, a man and a woman have differences in their bodies, they still possess similar strengths. And the fact that their bodies are different is just like the example of various people living in different houses. When spirit/soul enters the body of a woman, she does not become a different being. She has the same spirit inside of her as a man has in him. Only the construction of her body is different than a man’s, otherwise she possesses the same spirit as a man possesses.

Now if you expand on this topic, you will find out that this is a great truth that has been mentioned by the Holy Qur’an. All those things that affect a man, affect a woman also. For example, when a baby is born, it does not happen that men start laughing and women start to cry. Or, when experiencing hunger, women start to eat while men give up food. Or, at death of a father, sons start crying while the daughters laugh. It has never happened like this: Death of a father has the same effect on daughters as it does on sons. Similarly, death of a wife has the same effect on a husband as death of a husband has on a wife. So, what is there that differentiates them? As far as housing [physical body] is concerned, its difference is not really a difference. Assume, for instance, that one individual lives in a British style house while another lives in an old style palace/mansion. So, would there be a difference in the two? Those living in [the British style houses] are men and those living in [old mansions] are also men. In the same way, a [person’s] body is a house, whether it is made in shape of a man or in shape of a woman, what lives in [either shape] is a soul. This is the subject matter which the Holy Qur’an mentions, and which has not been mentioned in any other book in the world.  From this, Allah Almighty teaches us the lesson that we should make God our shield.