The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 420
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama * at - e - ahmadiyya while in the other instance he is asked to do so. There is a world o f difference between the two, according to the ac cepted norms. An obvious example is that the Promised Messiah3 S went to Delhi, Lahore, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Sialkot, but when he was told that a certain Raja wanted to meet him, he did not say that since he had been to Delhi and other places, he could go and see this Raja as well; instead, he said, “The thirsty come to water, water does not go to them. ” This shows the difference between the two situations. It is said that the Promised Messiah“ did go to some places at people’s request, but this was more by way o f accepting an invitation. I too am invited by rich and poor alike to dine with them, and if I can spare time and am in good health I do accept their invitations. Such arguments, therefore, do not hold water. There is a precise difference between accepting an invita tion, and being told to go som ewhere. . . In response to the objection that such a proposal would amount to restrict ing the Khalifa, it has been said that it was only meant as an advice. I agree that the resolutions presented here are only in the form o f advice and it is wrong to infer that they can be used to restrict the Khalifa. But, on the other hand, w e also have to view the context in which some thing has been said. At times even an apparent request carries an inherent decision. Everyone has experience o f situations whereby something is said in the form o f a re quest while it is in fact a command. I believe that even this kind o f interference is not permissible in matters relating to the person o f the Khalifa. The Khalifa is responsible for all the affairs o f the Jama4at, some o f which he assigns to other people, while others relate to his own person and to no one else. Pre 4 2 0