The System of Mushawarat in Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya — Page 132
T he S ystem of M ushawarat in J ama ‘ at - e -A hmadiyya pose. Members o f the Shura are very few and their [fi nancial] sacrifices are not likely to substantially increase our budget. Secondly, most o f the delegates representing different Jama'ats are already M usis, and imposing such a restriction w ill not increase our Chandas to any consid erable extent. ” When Hudur ordered a count, it came out that 163 out of the 260 delegates were already Musis, and only 97 were non-Musis. Hudur then said: “If these remaining people are encouraged, they too w ill become Musis. So, despite the fact that the majority is in favour o f making W asiyyat a precondition for the mem bership o f Shura, I give my verdict in favour o f the minority: that W asiyyat is not a must for membership o f the Shura. ” [Unpublished report Majlis-e~Shura 1948, pp. 68-69] H aving a B eard as a C ondition for M embership of S hura Another proposal in this connection was that having a beard should be a precondition for membership o f the Shura. A lengthy but very interesting discussion was held on this subject. After analyzing the various aspects of the matter, Hadrat Mu sleh-e-Mau‘udra decided: “A ll members are agreed that the question should be lim ited to having a beard, and this is also my decision. But, first o f all, it is necessary to make people understand the significance o f having a beard. There are some members o f the Jama'at, who, despite their sincerity, are guilty o f shaving their beards. And it is because they do not realize the importance o f keeping a beard, and do not consider it as a part o f faith and sincerity. Therefore, it is first and 132