The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 203
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama ‘ at - e -A hmajdiyya same things over and over again. In this context, Hadrat Musleh-e-Mau‘udra had the following to say in Majlis-e- Shura 1933: “The delegates should sit in Majlis-e-Shura with an open mind. They should establish a relationship with God and pray that He may guide them. And to be successful they should also bear in mind i. e. , there are weak members in the Jama'at whom they have to take along with them. Let us guard against arrogance and, instead o f sitting down and relaxing after accomplishing one task, we should immediately embark upon something else. Our God is the Lord o f the Universe and He is the Master o f unlimited progress. Why should not we also try our best? Another thing worth remembering is that if a discussion gets lengthier due to some misunderstanding, it is the ‘ duty o f the concerned Nazir to correct that misunder standing. At tim es a member misunderstands something which results in a lengthy discussion, and the concerned Nazir does not correct him, which is wrong. Delegates should not address one another. This is wrong both from the spiritual and worldly point o f view. Mushawarat means that the Khalifa is seeking advice from you. Therefore, you should address yourself to him. This is not a small matter, for it saves people from stum bling. When someone addresses another as an adversary, he is likely to get into a rage, but when he is addressing the Khalifa, this w ill not happen. Hence you should al ways remember to address the Khalifa on such occasions. This does not mean that you should actually address him with the word ‘Khalifa’, but your speech should be di rected towards him. 203