The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 118
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama ‘ at - e -A hmadiyya T he D istinguishing F eature of M ushawarat in J ama ‘ at - e -A hmadiyya The establishment o f Majlis-e-Shura in the Jama'at is, in fact, the revival of the Islamic system of Mushawarat. It might seem to resemble worldly Parliaments in some ways, but it is in fact purely religious in nature. Its only purpose is to make collective efforts to bring the world together upon one faith—Islam. In Chapter II, we have detailed the distinction between Majlis-e-Shura and worldly institutions, and have quoted the words of Hadrat Khallfatul Masih n ra, Hadrat Khallfatul Masih fflrh and Hadrat Khallfatul Masih IVrh on the subject. But this topic cannot be complete without the following extract from Hadrat Khalifatul Masih IV’srh book Sirat Fadl-e- ‘Umar. Majlis-e-Shura was established as a purely religious institution. Any resemblance to worldly Parliaments is solely superficial. Describing the objectives o f M ajlis-e- Mushawarat, Hadrat Musleh-e-Mau‘udra has said: “Allah has once again given us the opportunity to come together in order to invite the world towards Islam and towards spirituality, while the world holds consultations for its material progress. The rest o f the world strives for material gains, but we are gathered here, by the grace o f God, to spread the light which He has sent for the guid ance o f the world and to think o f schemes to accomplish this task. We shall also be deliberating on social and po litical issues which result from our schemes, but our aim w ill not be to gain anything for ourselves, rather it w ill all be for the benefit o f the world at large. It is the hall mark o f every Jama'at established by a Prophet, that all their efforts are directed, not at gaining anything for 118